'Bittersweet' moment for Windrush scandal victim as he's granted British citizenship 41 years later

Richard Black, 70, who was blocked from re-entering the UK after visiting family in Trinidad has finally got his British citizenship back after a .

Due to the scandal, people from Commonwealth countries who were mainly Black had their citizenship stripped and could not access healthcare, work and housing. This was a result of immigration laws which a government-commissioned study and designed to reduce the number of people “who did not have white skin.”

Richard who finally returned to the UK in April this year says that finally receiving his citizenship is “bittersweet” but that it comes “42 years too late.” He said: “I’m happy I got my citizenship but it's 42 years too late. It’s bittersweet. I got up in the morning as a St Lucian and I went to bed as an Englishman. It’s a relief right now. I was 28 years of age [when this started] I was a young person."

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The 70-year-old who arrived in the UK at the age of six was left homeless in the Caribbean, depending on overhanging mangoes to survive. He said: "I’ve suffered a whole lot of stuff and it's a trigger for me. The kind of hardship I went through, vagrancy and all kinds of stuff.

"I remember when I was on the streets and I had no food, rummaging through garbage. Whenever I pass or go anywhere and I see anyone on the streets and they ask me for money, I give it automatically.

“In the Caribbean it's hot but it rains a lot. You have to sleep under a bridge under a flyover. You take chances, people might assault you, They might use a slingshot or an air rifle to rob you. Being homeless in the Caribbean is no joke. To go through vagrancy and psychological issues and health issues as a result of what I went through.”

As well as suffering the trauma of being stripped of his rights as a Brit, Richard lost touch with his daughter who he says was six years old at the time when he was blocked from coming back to the UK. He said: “I’ve got a daughter here. From an earlier relationship I had when I was living here. The last time I saw her she was six. I can’t apologise enough that I wasn't part of her formative years but I lay blame on the Home Office.”

Although Richard has now been granted citizenship, he faces being made homeless after the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) told him the payment he heavily depends on was made in error. The 70-year-old who is currently battling Covid says he received a letter from DWP informing him he is now required to pay back £800 as the government body says he failed a habitual residency test which requires a person to prove they have a right to reside in the UK.

Now that he has received his citizenship back, he hopes his pension will be resolved. Richard said: “The opportunities, in terms of working and being gainfully employed - it's come back to haunt me now at age 70 because of my pension.

“Because I was out of the country for so long, my pension has been reduced to £418 and I have a rent of £916 that I have to pay my landlord. I’ve already missed one cycle, they want to chuck me out at age 70. I can't go through [homelessness again].

"I hope the home office intervenes. Or the council finds a way forward. I'm suffering as a result of their negligence and racism. It’s basically a betrayal of my parents and whatever agreement was made with the Caribbean at the time. People have passed away waiting for justice, I’m fortunate to still be here.”

Richard was offered £40,000 by the Home Office in September 2022 - less than a thousand pounds for each year he was blocked from re-entering the UK. The pensioner who faced homelessness before he was able to return to the UK in April this year, says the amount was an “insult” and that the Home Office should fully compensate him for all the “pain” and “suffering” he’s endured. He has since filed a new claim for compensation.

The Home Office and the DWP have been contacted for comment.