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May's Immigration Policy Almost ‘Reminiscent of Nazi Germany' – Ex-UK Official

© REUTERS / Matt DunhamBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May meets Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at 10 Downing Street, London, December 5, 2017.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May meets Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at 10 Downing Street, London, December 5, 2017. - Sputnik International
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The UK's Windrush scandal has raised questions about the government’s immigration policy and its handling of immigrants who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean prior to 1973. The government has been forced to apologize after instances of naturalized citizens from the Windrush generation being asked to prove their right to remain.

The former head of the UK’s civil service, Lord Kerslake, slammed the “hostile immigration environment” created by Prime Minister Theresa May, claiming that a number viewed the policies she was advocating as “almost reminiscent of Nazi Germany.”

Lord Berslake made the comparison on a segment of BBC Newsnight on April 18.

“It was a very contested piece of legislation across government departments, now I can’t say and shouldn’t say, as the former head of the civil service, precisely who gave the advice to who… There were some who saw it as almost reminiscent of Nazi Germany.”

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He later clarified that ministers, not just members of the civil service, had expressed their opposition to the policy and were “deeply unhappy.”

British Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he “respectfully” disagrees with Lord Kerslake’s assessment of the policy.

“I’ve never heard anyone make that comparison before Lord Kerslake. It’s not for me to criticise a distinguished former public servant like Lord Kerslake but I respectfully disagree,” Mr. Gove said, according to the Guardian newspaper.

Mr. Gove made the comments ahead of PM May’s opening address to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) on April 19.

Although in his current post, as environment secretary, he has no involvement in the policy, he is believed to have had some input while he was serving as education secretary.

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Meanwhile, Sarah Teather, the former minister for children and families who currently serves as the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, said some special advisers and ministers from the Liberal Democrats in the previous coalition government also opposed the policy.

“Theresa May was determined to transform things. She was proud of wanting to generate a really hostile environment. The Home Office has a culture of enforcement and disbelief which runs deep into the walls, but it is politically led,” Ms Teather said.

“It’s a culture from the top, and it has been a bit rich for the home secretary, Amber Rudd, to blame civil servants. When you’ve had a Conservative home secretary that long, you cannot moan when civil servants deliver those policies.”

READ MORE: 'Balls' is Veteran Tory MP's One-Word Response to Sputnik Over Amber Rudd

Although the Windrush scandal only recently began unfolding, the crisis is a product of a policy which was developed and implemented by the Home Office while now-PM served as the UK’s Home Secretary and oversaw the department.

The issues surrounding the immigration status of several people who arrived in the UK from Caribbean decades ago is ongoing and the extent of the damage to May’s reputation and popularity is currently unclear.

The immigrants who moved from 12 Caribbean nations to the UK prior to 1973 are known as the "Windrush generation." They were invited by the UK government from 1948-1971 to help Britain cope with labor shortages and the damage caused by World War II.  

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