The story of George Lee caused a great stir in the British media. Jamaican went to Great Britain thanks to his aunt when he was 8 years old. He spent most of his life in London. There he went to school, founded his own company, married and also became an English teacher.
In 1997, Lee decided to go to Poland. In our country, he was to work as a teacher at a private language school for two years. After that time, he wanted to return to Great Britain, but then his ordeal began. His visa expired, and the British embassy did not want to help him. Jamaican got stuck in Poland for another 26 years.
Jamaican got stuck in Poland for 26 years. Officials did not want to help him
His story is related to the Windrush scandal, i.e. the unfounded activities of the British Ministry of the Interior in order to forced deportation from the country of people who came to Great Britain from the Caribbean colony. For years, the scandal victims have been affected by the detention, forced deportation or refusal of basic rights by the British authorities.
“From the moment I was refused permission to return home in Great Britain, everything has changed,” says Lee, quoted by “The Mirror”. Jamaican does not hide a huge regret to the British authorities, which left him without any help. His report shows that he could not refuse the job offer he got in Poland. However, when it turned out that his visa was invalid and went to the embassy in Krakow for help, officials did not want to let him into the building.
Lee tried to look for help in embassies in other cities. Both in Warsaw and even the Czech Prague, however, it met the same as in Krakow. “I realized that in every British embassy you go to, as a person from Windrush, you always meet with a refusal. It seems to me that when the British government was planning an immigration law of 1971, he decided that he intends to get rid of black people from the Great Britain,” he says.
After 26 years in Poland, he returned to Great Britain. “I want to join the fight”
Jamajczyk regained the hope of returning in 2018, when the Windrush scandal came to light. Despite this, in the British embassies they still did not want to listen to him. Ultimately, the national Windrush organization came to his aid. Her employees collected documentation regarding the teacher's life in Great Britain. They reached the number of his social insurance, an old passport, as well as a marriage certificate. After analyzing the case, the Ministry of the Interior organized a return flight for George Lee, temporary accommodation and transport of its few things.
A 72-year-old man landed at the airport in Birmingham last week. Lee has already started their efforts to obtain a state pension, as well as the search for his two sisters. – I just want to settle down and I want to join the fight for our rights. I don't have to work anymore, which means that I can devote my time to helping others – he sums up.
