| By JamRadio UK News Team |
George Lee, a Windrush victim who has spent nearly three decades exiled in Poland, has arrived in Birmingham this evening — marking the end of a 27-year ordeal. But serious questions remain about why the Home Office failed to bring him home since the Windrush Scandal in 2018 and failed to use its discretionary powers to naturalise Mr. Lee years earlier, despite legislative changes introduced specifically to help people in his situation.
George Lee at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport en route to the UK - 22 July 2025
Mr. Lee, who arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1961 at the age of seven, built a life in London and Hastings before taking a short-term teaching contract in Poland in the late 1990s. That decision — made in good faith — led to his exclusion from the UK under hostile environment policies that disproportionately affected the Windrush generation.
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In 2022, the Nationality and Borders Act granted the Home Secretary new powers under section 9(1)(b) and 9(2) to waive residency requirements for naturalisation — particularly for those locked out of the UK “through no fault of their own,” (Windrush Victims) as then Home Secretary Priti Patel stated when introducing the bill. Yet Mr. Lee was told to obtain a Jamaican passport and apply for a returning resident visa, despite having lived in the UK for nearly four decades and being eligible under the Windrush Scheme.
Mr. Lee was instead forced to reamin living in Poland in squalid conditions until he was able to secure a Jamaican passport and a UK residents visa.
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Advocates argue that Mr. Lee’s case was tailor-made for the discretionary powers Patel introduced. Instead, the Home Office insisted on documentation from Jamaica — a country Mr. Lee hasn’t called home in over 60 years — and left him in deteriorating conditions in Poland, where he faced eviction and lived without electricity.
Roland Houslin, a Windrush victim and campaigner, said: “The Home Office is certainly not righting the wrongs. This was the perfect opportunity to use the law and apply their discretionary powers — and once again, they’ve failed.” He told JamRadio News: “This is a clear indication that they’re not showing any commitment to fixing this. So how can they expect to be trusted?”
JamRadio asked Mr. Lee how he felt about his treatment by the Home Office, he said: “How can you offer justice when you do not know and are incapable of understanding the injustice which caused the need to offer it?
JamRadio News asked the Home Office:
The Home Office has yet to respond to JamRadio’s request for comment.
Mr. Lee’s arrival in Birmingham may bring closure to his personal ordeal, but for many, it reopens the broader question: Is the Home Secretary truly committed to using her powers to repair the damage done to the Windrush generation — or is she trapped in the very bureaucracy that caused the scandal in the first place?
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