Windrush scandal: Justice after woman, 82, barred from entering UK

It’s been over a year since I was first told about Hannah Dankwa . Subscribe The pro-bono lawyer from Justice4Windrush, Pauline Campbell, sent me a voice note and a bunch of documents. I read through them for an hour, re-read and didn’t stop. I couldn’t believe it. A then 80-year-old woman was stuck in Ghana after a family holiday , not being allowed to return to the UK, despite being a British citizen. Discrepancy The reason? A discrepancy in a birth certificate, which had been explained, but there had never been a problem before when she travelled. Hannah Dankwa, pictured above, who is now 82, was born in Kumasi, Ghana in 1944. She was born a British citizen. She also has a Ghanaian passport. Share Channel 4 News She spent six decades in the UK working for a north London council and raised her five kids. And she is a dual citizen. Her family told me she never felt the need to have a British passport, it was never an issue. But in April 2025 it became one . Hostile environment It was reminiscent of the hostile environment policy which surfaced in 2017, that had impacted the Windrush Generation. A wave of Commonwealth citizens who were invited to work in Britain after World War Two and help rebuild – who then found themselves asked to prove their citizenship and had their rights taken away. Get more from Channel 4 News in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app The Government was meant to have learnt the lessons, and been righting the wrongs. But here in 2025, it hadn’t. Recently Hannah Dankwa’s British passport has been issued and I went to meet her and her daughter Anna, pictured above . ‘I am fearful’ She was grateful to have her documentation, but one thing Hannah said to me stood out: “I am fearful”. I asked why and she explained things have changed since she’s come back. Her daughter elaborated that although they’re grateful that her case is resolved and being used in training for the Passport Office, she should never have had to go through this. This past week Windrush Day was celebrated. The event is tinged with sadness because of the scandal that many of that generation found themselves in. Through no fault of their own. There are hundreds of Windrush victims who are still fighting for justice, nine years on from a scandal the government said it was committed to solving. Windrush: 82-year-old British citizen with cancer finally gets passport Subscribe Share Channel 4 News Leave a commentRead More