You probably recall the story of 89 year old Windrush pensioner, Thelma Campbell, first reported on by Nadine White & ITV news, after Haringey Council said they couldn't house her. Thelma has been a tenant of a housing provider for 25 years. They want to redevelop their estate & and want mainly Black & Asian tenants to move out with an offer of a few thousand pounds. But because Thelma couldn't prove she had the right to be in the UK despite having evidence of being here since 1960, Haringey initially refused to add her to their waiting list.
Ms Campbell is a victim of the
#WindrushScandal but did not know it. It is my view that there are thousands like her.
But when she dropped in to see me & my colleague Taylor Greyson (pictured) yesterday, I discovered that the Hostile Environment faced by Caribbean elders isn't confined to the Home Office, but to local authorities, housing associations, healthcare providers, DWP & others. Last year I represented a 90 year old man who'd lived in Camden without a kitchen for 2 years; the housing provider in that case sought to blame him. This morning I took a call from an elderly client facing eviction by Lambeth council after living in the property for 30 years.
Thelma's story is wound up in the Hostile Environment. But it's bigger than the Windrush Scandal as we know it. The experience of many African, Caribbean & Asian elders reflects a callous disregard for them, & a desperate attempt to get them out of the way in the name of gentrification.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho…