THE author of a new book about West Indian migrants caught up in the Windrush scandal will be the guest speaker at an event in Abergavenny in February.

Award-winning writer Colin Grant published Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush generation last autumn, to critical acclaim.

His work involved him recording the accounts of some of the first West Indians to arrive in the UK after the Second World War, their struggle for acceptance and equality in their new country, and their treatment by the state.

Scandal erupted in 2018 when news broke that many migrants from the so-called 'Windrush generation' (named for the ship, the Empire Windrush, which brought many people to the UK from the Caribbean) had been wrongly detained, deported, or threatened with deportation because of missing documentation.

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Many of the people affected had never been required to show any documentation that they had a legal right to live in the UK. For others, their only legal proof was their landing card from their original arrival in the UK. The Home Office destroyed these records in 2010.

Reporting at the time revealed how many Windrush migrants had – in addition to cases (or threats of) detention and deportation – suffered systemic discrimination in terms of access to jobs, homes, and medical services.

The scandal led to the resignation of then-home secretary Amber Rudd, and the UK government has since launched a compensation scheme for immigrants affected by the scandal.

Mr Grant will speak about his new book as part of the Conversations at the Chapel series of talks, curated by Alastair Laurence, at The Art Shop and Chapel, Market Street, Abergavenny, on Tuesday, February 18, 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £10 and are available at the venue, by phone (01873 736430), or online (plus £1 booking fee) at www.artshopmaterials.co.uk