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(43,419 posts) Tue Jul 12, 2022, 02:27 AM Jul 2022

Neo-Windrush: Woman who gave birth in Jamaica stranded after baby refused entry to UK

British resident Tiffany Ellis separated from husband and other child since last year after ‘callous’ Home Office decision

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/11/woman-who-gave-birth-in-jamaica-stranded-after-baby-refused-entry-to-uk

A British resident who is stranded in Jamaica with her baby has been told by the Home Office the child cannot come to the UK because he has an “established life” on the Caribbean island. Tiffany Ellis, 28, has indefinite leave to remain in the UK, where she has lived since the age of eight. She gave birth to Xien Ellis on 30 April last year in Jamaica and has been trying to return to the UK ever since.

In a letter of refusal of the baby’s visa application, Home Office officials say the decision is “justified by the need to maintain an effective immigration and border control” and will not have “unjustifiably harsh consequences”. They add that the baby’s life can continue as it is now in Jamaica with financial support from his mother in the UK. The Home Office refused Xien’s visa application on 22 December when he was almost eight months old.

Tiffany’s husband, Zarren Ellis, 38, and the couple’s older daughter, Xianna Ellis, five, are at the family’s home in London, desperate to be reunited with Tiffany and Xien. Tiffany and Zarren travelled from their home in London to Jamaica in January 2020 to get married, accompanied by Xianna. While the couple were waiting for the paperwork to come through for their wedding, Covid broke out and they had to stay in Jamaica as many parts of the world were locked down. They were finally able to get married on the island in August 2020.

In September 2020, Tiffany became pregnant and was afflicted with constant vomiting – hyperemesis gravidarum – so severe she was unable to leave the house. She hoped the condition would subside after the first trimester and booked a flight back to the UK for January 2021. But her condition worsened and she had to remain in Jamaica until after she gave birth. Last December, Zarren and Xianna returned to London so that Xianna could attend school. They had no choice but to leave Tiffany and Xien in Jamaica because of the Home Office visa refusal.

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Windrush scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windrush_scandal

The Windrush scandal was a British political scandal which began in 2018 concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and in at least 83 cases wrongly deported from the UK by the Home Office. Many of those affected had been born British subjects and had arrived in the UK before 1973, particularly from Caribbean countries, as members of the "Windrush generation" (so named after the Empire Windrush, the ship that brought one of the first groups of West Indian migrants to the UK in 1948).

As well as those who were deported, an unknown number were detained, lost their jobs or homes, had their passports confiscated, or were denied benefits or medical care to which they were entitled. A number of long-term UK residents were refused re-entry to the UK; a larger number were threatened with immediate deportation by the Home Office. Linked by commentators to the "hostile environment policy" instituted by Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary, the scandal led to the resignation of Amber Rudd as Home Secretary in April 2018 and the appointment of Sajid Javid as her successor. The scandal also prompted a wider debate about British immigration policy and Home Office practice.

The March 2020 independent Windrush Lessons Learned Review conducted by the inspector of constabulary concluded that the Home Office had shown "ignorance and thoughtlessness" and that what had happened had been "foreseeable and avoidable". It further found that immigration regulations were tightened "with complete disregard for the Windrush generation" and that officials had made "irrational" demands for multiple documents to establish residency rights.

Despite a compensation scheme being announced in December 2018, by November 2021, only an estimated 5% of victims had received any compensation and 23 of those eligible had died before receiving payments. Three separate Parliamentary committees had issued reports during 2021 criticising Home Office slowness and ineffectiveness in providing redress to victims and calling for the scheme to be taken out of the hands of the Home Office.

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