UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that the government will pay up to £200 million in compensation to people whose lives were affected by the Home Office's mistaken classification of thousands of long-term British residents as illegal immigrants.
The announcement comes almost a year after the government admitted that its treatment of the Windrush generation had been appalling and promised reform of its immigration system and compensation to those affected by hostile environment policies.
The Home Secretary said there would be no cap on the fund, making it impossible to estimate how much money will eventually be paid to victims.
Payments will not be restricted to people from the Caribbean, but will be made to anyone who has been in the UK since 1988 who was wrongly classified as being there illegally and as a result lost the right to work, access to healthcare and the ability to rent.
The total number of those affected by the scandal remains unknown, but more than 5,000 people have been granted documentation by the Windrush taskforce in the past year, confirming that they have a legal right to live in the UK, and 3,674 people have been granted British citizenship.
Mr. Javid said relatives of those people who died before the government acknowledged the Home Office's mistakes would be eligible to apply for compensation.
The Home Office has admitted that of the 164 people who were wrongly detained or removed from the country, at least 19 died before officials were able to contact them to apologise and another 27 cannot be traced.
The Home Office said the scheme would also provide payments to eligible individuals who did not have the right documentation to prove their status in the UK and suffered adverse effects on their life as a result.
These could range from a loss of employment or access to housing, education or healthcare to emotional distress or a deterioration in mental and physical health.
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