Many members of the Windrush generation are still afraid of being deported two years after a government apology, says the chairman of Medway African Caribbean Association.

Today marks 72 years since the HMT Empire Windrush arrived in the UK, bringing a generation of Caribbean workers to aid Britain's post-war labour shortage.

In 2017, the Windrush scandal dominated the news after it was revealed many of the people who had come to rebuild the country after Second World War had been denied legal rights, detained and deported.

This was a result of the government's 'hostile environment policy' which aimed to make the UK a harsh place for undocumented immigrants to live. Because many of the children of the Windrush generation came to the UK on their parents' passports, they did not have the legal documentation to prove they were allowed in the country.

This led to many being treated like any other undocumented inmigrant, some losing access to housing, healthcare, work, bank accounts, benefits and driving licenses.

Carol Stewart, chairman of MACA, said: "The compensation scheme for those impacted has been around for a long time. But people are not claiming it because they still have a fear of being deported.

"The government need to make it safe for people to come forward but at the moment people don't feel safe as they may not have the relevant information because this was over 70 years ago now."

Then Prime Minister, Theresa May officially apologised for the scandal in 2018 and the Home Office commissioned the ‘Windrush Lessons Learned Review’. Since then, the government has been criticised for a low uptake in compensation as well as the huge backlog of cases they have been made aware of.

Mrs Stewart added: "I don't think Theresa May's apology was very sincere. We know people even up until last year were being deported, long after her apology."

Home secretary, Priti Patel, recently made a commitment to taking action by setting up a new working group to address the wrongs of the scandal. A £750,000 fund will also go towards an advertising campaign to spread awareness of the support and compensation available.

Mrs Stewart added people need to be compensated properly, have their papers sorted out quickly and those involved in the loss of documents such as landing papers in central government should be held to account.

She added: "The Windrush generation has given blood, sweat and tears to this country. They need to recognise this and have a fast track process for processing people's applications.

"I think no amount of compensation is going to be enough to make up for the suffering, humiliation, trauma and loss of income people went through. It was horrendous treatment and compensation should recognise all of this."

Mrs Stewart adds people can use the anniversary to educate themselves. She said: "There needs to be more education around the contributions of black Britons to this country as well as their history which long pre-dates Windrush and slavery. Lack of education leads to stereotypes of black people being a drain on this country.

"But I think we are going to see something similar to Windrush again in Brexit. There's a lot of people from diverse communities who have been recruited from Europe for jobs no one else finds as attractive. It feels like a repeat of history when we hear the rhetoric of 'people taking our jobs.' The language is quite disturbing."

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