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WINDRUSH DAY: INTERVIEW WITH MERLITA BRYAN, SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM By Pa Modou Faal
Merlita: Of course, it plays a part. We commemorate it because if it was not for the scandal, we would not be aware of what took place and why these people have not got documents that would have them enjoy the same privileges as a British citizen as they were promised. Mojatu: Has anything changed positively as a result of the scandal? Merlita: Not really, it has only changed the fact that people are now aware of the atrocities committed at that time, but it had no positive impact on those who suffered because there was a man who went to Jamaica to visit his parent and was refused entry back to the United Kingdom. What I would call real positive change is the UK is accepting its wrong, and changing for the better Mojatu: In late 2019, secret deportation took place. What’s your take on that? Merlita Bryan was born in Jamaica in 1951 and moved to Nottingham at the age of 11. Merlita has been a Councillor since 2007 and had been Sheriff and Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 2012-13 and 201314 respectively and she is currently the Sheriff of Nottingham since April 2021. In a conversation she had with Mojatu magazine marking celebrations of Windrush day, Councillor Bryan admitted she had not heard or known about the Windrush before the scandal broke and she had no idea what it was until people started talking about it in seminars organized to enlighten the people about the Windrush. Jamaica being a Commonwealth member state, Melita’s father among other Jamaicans came to England in 1960 with a British passport to help in the development of England. As years went by and British legislation changed targeting immigrants, one would now need a British passport or a legal residence and work permit to be able to work in England. Members of the Windrush generation who were brought from the West Indies with legal documentation, lost their jobs and freedoms as they were no more regarded as British citizens. Most of them Jamaicans and others from the Caribbean Islands were sent back to their countries on grounds of illegal migrants. For the few ones who could afford financial and legal tussles like Merlita fought for their papers and their families’ which saved her from being deported. Unfortunately, so many people fell prey to this unexplainable circumstance. Our editor asked the Sheriff of Nottingham if it is because of the scandal that Windrush is commemorated?
Merlita: This has happened, and the worst part of it was having to deport children or even grandchildren of the people who were brought here in the 60s during the Windrush era. Worst of all, sending to a place where they have never been, knew no one or have nothing in. Mojatu: As a result of exposure of the scandal through social media, are people coming out to join the initiative. Merlita: Of course, there was no social media back then to share ordeals of the hardships they went through or even enlighten other people of their rights. Rather they would sit in their little rooms crying about their situation. Contrary to the younger social media generation of today, they are more aware of their rights and are eager to enlighten people about it. Having said that it does not mean that the Windrush victim were not educated, they came to the United Kingdom as professionals with various skills like doctors, nurses and experts in other areas. Mojatu: What is government’s participation in ensuring a stop to this horrible situation Merlita: If the government wanted to end this horror it could easily have been done and it would cost them nothing more than the stroke of a pen, with that stroke of a pen the government could say ‘’Successive governments have made mistakes with regards to Windrush, and we want to right those wrongs’’ and that can be done by acknowledging what people of other nations have positively done for your country (UK). And also, to publicly thank the efforts of the great men and women who helped rebuild the United Kingdom. Government should make sure they put things right and the subsequent governments to follow the
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