George Campbell, 69, slept in bus station as officials questioned his right to live in the UK after hospital stay
A Windrush generation man who arrived in Britain as a child 60 years ago has spent several months homeless and destitute, after officials questioned whether he had the right to live in the UK.
George Campbell, 69, ended up staying in a bus shelter in east London and visiting food banks after he was discharged from a hospital stay last year. Because he had no paperwork proving that he was in the UK legally, council officials classified him as ineligible for state-funded homelessness support.
Although the Home Office’s Windrush team was alerted to the urgency of his situation in early October, it was months before officials accepted that he was living in the UK legally and granted him the proof of immigration status to which he had always been entitled. He remains living in a night shelter, supported by a charity, because his attempts to claim a state pension have also been rejected, despite a lifetime working and paying taxes in Britain.
Seven years after the government apologised for the errors that led to thousands of people being wrongly categorised as illegal immigrants, individual Windrush cases continue to emerge, highlighting weaknesses in the systems set up to try to help those affected by the Home Office scandal.
