Windrush hero trapped in limbo for 26 years finally allowed home to Britain

When Windrush hero George Lee touched down at Birmingham Airport last week, it marked the end of 26 years in exile – and the close of yet another heartbreaking chapter in the Windrush Scandal.

For 26 years, George has been trying to get back to the UK after going to teach in Poland for two years in 1997. When he left the country John Major was still Prime Minister, the country was reeling from ‘mad cow disease’ and Princess Diana was still alive.

He has been unable to visit his mother or his brother's graves and has lost touch with his sisers. And he has never been able to access the state pension he is entitled to.

"When you’re in this position, every single morning when you wake up you have a wrench in your gut," he says, speaking for the first time about his ordeal. "No matter how long it went on I had that feeling. It’s about belonging nowhere. There’s nothing you can do about it – your constitutional and human rights have been stripped away and that leaves you vulnerable. I started adopting Theresa May's epithet that I was a citizen of nowhere."

Born a Commonwealth citizen in Kingston Jamaica, George was brought to the 'mother country' at the age of eight by his aunt, to start a new life in London. George spent 36 years in the UK before he went to Poland. He went to school here, got into grammar school, set up his own business, got married and eventually became a teacher, all in Britain.

But after heading to Poland in 1997, he found himself locked out. He was told he'd need a special visa to re-enter the UK but when he tried to get it from the British embassy in Krakow he was refused. Instead, George, now 72, spent the next 26 years stuck in Poland.

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George is one of many Windrush heroes campaigners now believe may be trapped in third countries by Tory 'hostile environment' policies that endure long after Theresa May's government. Uncovered in 2017, the Windrush Scandal saw thousands like George – members of the 'Windrush Generation' who came here to build Britain – wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights.

Trapped in Poland, George made repeated attempts to access support. It was only when a Windrush campaign group heard about his plight that he was able to get help raising his case with the British Home Office. With their support, last week he finally made it home to the UK.

"From the moment they refused to allow me to come home to the UK, everything changed," he says. "It’s dehumanising, because you create a situation where people can't easily get a home, get a job… when you're in a third country that is hostile, that's very difficult. My landlord was terrible. I didn’t have utilities for three months. There is no legislation that shows I’m not a British citizen. When I was 18, I was so proud of Great Britain, I would never have believed that the British government would do this to me. The British government took away our rights."

He moved to Poland to take up a two-year contract teaching at a private English language school. "I got offered a job that I couldn't refuse," he explains. "I did really well, and got seconded to a university. When I decided to come back, I'd gone slightly over the two years I'd planned to be away, so I was told to go and get a visa for my re-entry back to the UK. But I went to the British Embassy, and they would not let me in the building."

Desperate, he travelled to another Polish city, Warsaw, to try there. "I went to Warsaw and it was the same. I tested it by trying embassies in other places…Prague, Switzerland. I realised that any British embassy you go to, as a Windrush person, you always meet a block. I feel that when the British government were planning the Immigration Act 1971, they made the decision that they were going to get black people out of the United Kingdom.

"That is the root of the scandal." George gave up. "I was resigned for many, many years. I was stuck." When he read about the emerging Windrush scandal, George hoped it might help. "It was a real knock when the Windrush scandal broke and I went back to the British Embassy, but they wouldn't let me in," he says. "They sent a Polish person out to see me on the pavement."

Then, last year, George made contact with Bishop Desmond Jaddoo – chair of the Windrush National Organisation – who spoke to the Home Office on his behalf and started compiling evidence of George’s life in the UK. "We are only just discovering people in these third countries – there will be more Georges," Bishop Desmond says.

"The Immigration Act allowed people from the Commonwealth to go in to Europe and work which many people did. The problem was that then their status was called into question."

Bishop Desmond's team were able to gather his school records, national insurance number, old passport and marriage certificate to build his case. "We were able to map his life from the day he arrived in the UK to when he went to Poland," he says. "No-one had bothered to look at George’s case."

Once they were made aware, Bishop Jaddoo says the Home Office was helpful, arranging George's flight home, temporary accommodation and to transport his few possessions. And the Labour government say the tide is turning with the appointment of senior pastor Reverend Clive Foster MBE as the first Windrush Commissioner – to fulfil a manifesto commitment to achieve justice for victims.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases. However, when this government arrived a year ago, it pledged to do things differently. For 77 years, the Windrush community has made an immense contribution to our country, weaving a vital thread in the fabric of British society. We have made a longstanding commitment to ensure victims of the Home Office Windrush scandal are heard, justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run effectively."

Since landing on British soil in Birmingham last week, George has begun the process of trying to access his state pension, find a GP and look for his two sisters. He also plans to visit his mum and younger brother’s graves in north London. "I just want to get settled and I want to join the fight for our rights," George says. "I don’t now have to work any more – which means I can spend my time trying to help others."