Westminster Legal Advice Clinic advocates for Windrush scandal survivors as 75th anniversary marked

Steiner, who is also a solicitor and Senior Lecturer at the Westminster Law School, works with victims of the Windrush scandal, in which a large number of Black Britons who had arrived in the United Kingdom from the Caribbean after World War II were misclassified as illegal immigrants. Because of their right of settlement under the British Nationality Act 1948, they were not issued documents upon entry to the UK. However, in 2018 many of this generation were asked to prove their UK citizenship or residence and ultimately faced detention, deportation, loss of jobs, homes and benefits due to lack of documents that became a requirement under the hostile environment. 

Steiner has recently raised awareness of the Windrush injustices through talks, articles and a research project. She was a panellist at the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research conference called From Windrush to Climate Justice: Joining the Dots for the Future held on 19 June. Steiner spoke on the need to broaden reparations beyond monetary compensation, and the importance of depoliticising migration and bolstering resources to support those affected by the Windrush Scandal.

Steiner was also a speaker at the JUSTICE webinar titled The Windrush Compensation Scheme: What Happens Next on 27 June 2023.  She emphasised the importance of a trauma-informed approach to compensating claimants for the injustices they have endured This includes providing hand-holding and therapeutic support to claimants when desired as they undertake the “highly complex and hostile process” of applying for compensation.  

In an article for the Legal Action Group magazine titled Windrush Scandal: Continuing the Fight for Justice,  Steiner discussed the failures of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and advocated for a people’s tribunal to centre the experiences of survivors and hold the government accountable.

In an interview with CNN, Steiner said: “These are British people who have paid tax and national insurance, have worked for all their lives and the government has confirmed their status as UK citizens, and yet, victims are still being denied access to compensation for the harm caused to their lives.”

She also has earlier contributed to a research piece by Human Rights Watch titled UK: ‘Hostile’ Compensation Scheme Fails ‘Windrush’ Victims which was published on 17 April 2023. Steiner noted that claimants who use the digital claim system have found it unhelpful, and applicants who appealed their initial compensation offer without submitting new evidence received increased Home Office offers. This suggests that close attention was not paid to their initial claim. She advocated for appeals to instead be heard by the Tribunal Service.

Steiner said: “Many claimants are deterred from a second appeal because by that point they have already had two refusals from the Home Office, are exhausted, and may give up on the idea of getting a fair hearing.”

Anna Steiner is the co-founder of the Windrush Justice Clinic, which operates under the 
Westminster Legal Advice Clinic in partnership with legal clinics at London South Bank University, North Kensington Law Centre, Southwark Law Centre, the Claudia Jones Organisation, the Windrush Compensation Project and the Jigsaw House Society. The University of Westminster Legal Advice Clinic provides free legal advice to the public in housing law, family law, employment law and immigration. Student volunteers are supervised by qualified solicitors, barristers and accredited caseworkers.

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