THE Home Office has been accused by campaigners of doubling down on a hostile and punitive agenda that continues to destroy lives more than four years on from the Windrush scandal.

Human rights charity Praxis hit out at the Home Office ahead of Windrush Day today for failing to right the wrongs caused to thousands and transform itself into a more compassionate institution.

In 2017, it was revealed that a growing number of Commonwealth citizens, many of whom were from the former British colonies, were being detained, deported and denied their rights.

As a result, their lives were shattered with people, especially the elderly, becoming homeless, not able to access life-saving treatment and losing their jobs or income support.

Praxis chief executive Sally Daghlian said that the government is “failing on its commitments to change,” as highlighted in an independent reviewer’s latest report revealing that only eight out of 30 commitments have been fully delivered.

She called the findings a mockery, saying: “The Windrush compensation scheme is overly complicated and poorly advertised, seemingly designed to make it difficult to claim.

“What’s urgently needed is a fair, accessible, independently administered compensation scheme, and a real plan to make sure everyone who is entitled to recompense knows how to get it and has help to do so.

“Despite Home Secretary [Priti Patel’s] claims that her department has become more compassionate, the Home Office’s latest policies demonstrate conclusively that this is not the case, as they seek to criminalise people for seeking safety in the UK and trade cash for humans with Rwanda.”

Joseph, who did not give his second name, has experienced the migration system and said that the Home Office has not improved its policies since the scandal and “everything is still as hostile as it has always been.”

“It’s a slap in the face of migrants,” he said.

“On the one hand you show a veneer of compassion to migrants through the establishment of the Windrush Day; on the other hand you make draconian policies that are harmful and detrimental to the lives of people who have chosen to make Britain their home, and who are contributing to this society and to Britain at large.”

He said that if the Home Office “really wants to celebrate us” it needs to scrap harmful policies such as deporting people to Rwanda or No Recourse to Public Funds as a matter of urgency.