© Provided by The Independent The Home Office unlawfully prevented a Windrush woman's husband and children from joining her in the UK, the High Court has ruled, in what it branded a "colossal interference" in her right to family life.
Lynda Mahabir, a Trinidadian national, was brought to the UK at two months old in 1969 before being removed against her will in 1977.
The Home Office failed to document her lawful immigration status and as a result, she was unable to return to the UK for 41 years - until she was granted leave to remain under the Windrush scheme in 2018.
However, the department refused to consider the applications of her husband and five children, two of whom are under 18, under the Windrush scheme, saying they had to pay the application fees, which would have amounted to over £20,000 - a sum they could not afford.
In a landmark ruling on Thursday, Mr Tim Smith ruled that Mrs Mahabir was faced with "a thankless choice" of either having to forego her rights under the Windrush scheme or breaking up the family - which he said constituted a "colossal interference" with her right to family life.
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The judge continued: "I am persuaded that the failure of the [Home Office] to afford family members of a Windrush victim preferential treatment in the charging of fees, over and above other classes of applicant, is indirectly discriminatory against them and is unlawful."
Jeremy Bloom, from Duncan Lewis Solicitors, who represents the family, said the ruling was a "fantastic outcome" for the Mahabirs as well as others who are unable to join Windrush generation family members in the UK "simply because the Home Office refuses to waive their exorbitant application fees".
He added: "The judgment makes it clear that the Home Office talks a good talk on Windrush but in reality the scheme is riddled with limitations and fails to properly consider the human rights of those it aims to help.
"A genuine commitment to righting the historic wrongs committed would not have to be enforced by court judgment in this way."
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