A post-colonial reckoning: on the Windrush scandal

Britain’s approach to immigration from the Caribbean and South Asia is in the political spotlight

On Wednesday, the anger and emotion felt by some MPs during an intense debate in the House of Commons on the Windrush scandal enveloping the British government was palpable. “What we are not talking about so much is race,” said Shabana Mahmood, an opposition Labour MP for Birmingham, who sought to drive home the impact Britain’s tough immigration regime had on its diverse population. “Try making an application, as a British national, to the Home Office with a name that is demonstrably South Asian in origin. I promise that the protection of a British passport will not help one little bit. People will have visited upon them casual humiliation upon humiliation. The system will treat them as if they were dirt on the bottom of its shoe, and that is not good enough.”

David Lammy, a black Labour MP pointed to the painful legacy of empire and slavery: “I remind the House that I am here because you were there. I say ‘you’ metaphorically. The Windrush generation are here because of slavery. The Windrush story is the story of British empire.”

The British government’s hopes of containing the scandal over the treatment of Caribbean and other Commonwealth nationals has failed miserably. To recap: the Windrush generation were migrants from the Commonwealth Caribbean who came to Britain before 1973 (1971 legislation no longer gave them automatic settlement after that date). Along with others from the Commonwealth, they and their families were encouraged to Britain to help meet acute labour shortages, whether in the National Health Service (NHS) or beyond. During Wednesday’s debate, one of the MPs reminded his colleagues why Brixton, a trendy part of south London, had become a hub for Caribbean migrants: “They settled in Brixton to be near the job centre because they wanted to work.” Toughening of immigration rules has led to them being penalised and wrongly treated as undocumented illegal immigrants. Shocking stories of families being separated, unable to return to Britain from holidays abroad, denials of life-saving treatment have abounded in recent weeks. While the stories have mostly centred on those from the Caribbean, there are fears that migrants from across the Commonwealth will inevitably have been impacted. “The scandal also includes those who came from many other Commonwealth countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and countries in West Africa,” said Diane Abbott, Labour’s spokesperson on home affairs.

The government — while apologising for the treatment of the Windrush generation and promising acting including compensation — has attempted to treat it as an aberration that had no link with its wider immigration policies. It has tried to make the case that its obsession with cutting migration targets and dealing with illegal migration had nothing whatsoever to do with what had happened. “Measures over many years to tackle illegal immigration are of course a good thing, and we stand by those measures,” insisted Britain’s new (and first ever ethnic minority) Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, who took over earlier this week, as the government sought to contain the crisis. While pointing out that it could easily have been one of his family members who had come from Pakistan to have been impacted, Mr. Javid said it had nothing to do with the pursuit of a “compliant environment” to tackle illegal immigration.

Yet these efforts to separate have proved fruitless amid further revelations around the treatment of people legally in Britain or attempting to get to its shores. Last week it emerged that at least a hundred, and potentially more, Indian doctors who had been recruited by NHS trusts up and down the country to fill sorely needed positions, mostly in emergency medicine, had been unable to take up their positions because of visa issues. The Evening Standard, edited by former Treasury head George Osborne, revealed that Prime Minister Theresa May herself had rejected calls for an easing of the visa rules for non-EU doctors.

A separate row is brewing over the treatment of foreign students.

Foreign students

For many years now the British government has been attempting to deport foreign students (and others) based on allegations that they had committed fraud to obtain the English-language qualifications to stay in the U.K. After a 2014 BBC investigation found evidence of fraud at one testing centre, thousands who had gained their qualification via that route at different test centres were accused of fraud, despite what one judge described as “multiple shortcomings and frailties” of the state’s evidence and the “plausible and truthful” statements of students.

Sanam Arora, the chair of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union U.K., which has been campaigning on behalf students who have faced accusations of fraud believes a “significant population” from India has been impacted. “Our strong suspicion is that thousands could have been wrongly deported or facing difficulties.” She notes that the government’s “deport first, appeal later” strategy, which came into effect around the time students began to face these difficulties, meant there was little recourse open to the students. While she recognises the ambitions of Britain to curb illegal migration, she notes that that the burden of proof — and blame — was swiftly placed on the shoulders of the students rather than the Home Office-approved system that had allowed the fraud to happen. The same applied to past attempts to cull “bogus colleges”, she notes, where rather than treating students as the victims, they were treated by the government and British media as “bogus students”. “The policies of this government are lacking in empathy and concern for the welfare of students,” she says.

Separately, a burgeoning group of South Asians are campaigning against what they believe is a misuse of a clause in legislation to prevent the settlement of criminals. The clause is being used to deny IT professionals, doctors and others long resident in the U.K. the indefinite leave to remain because of minor errors in their tax returns. Hundreds are believed to be impacted.

“I feel vindicated in many ways,” says Lord Karan Bilimoria, a crossbench peer who has been campaigning against the toughening immigration regime, particularly as it pertains to students, for many years now. “I certainly believe that since 2010 the government’s immigration policy has got it very wrong. The word hostile is being used and the atmosphere is blatantly hostile. You just have to look at the catalogue of their policies and the impact it has had.”

Change afoot?

“I do not believe that the term ‘hostile environment’ is in tune with our values as a country,” insisted Mr. Javid in Parliament, referring to the now notorious phase once used by Ms. May. His mollifying words have done little to convince campaigners, however, that fundamental change is on its way. For the first time perhaps, the sturdy thread connecting Britain’s colonial past and legacy, its approach to immigration and its profound human impact, that for decades had been deemed invisible by mainstream politics, has caught the sunlight.

THE POLL SERVIVORS

It is arguable whether the debate over the so-called illegal immigration across the industrialised world has focussed attention on systemic shortcomings and genuine violations. But surely, the controversy has typified the inability of governments to manage the political fallout from the current phase of globalisation and trade liberalisation. This is especially true of the EU, which has enshrined the free movement of people as a fundamental principle. Consequently, the 2004 expansion of the bloc into the countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union afforded nations in Western Europe cheap immigrant labour and compliance with better standards. But the process also gave a fillip to xenophobic parties of the extreme right across the region, threatening to halt immigration. Similarly, populist parties in Britain fuelled public anger over the dynamics of closer integration to target EU migrants during the 2016 referendum. The country’s two mainstream parties, although committed to remaining in the bloc, could hardly counter the trend. The lessons from the Windrush scandal are too fundamental to miss.

Raising fences: on the plight of Britons of West Indies origin

The scandal over the targeting of Britons of Caribbean origin is the latest twist in Europe’s recent politics over immigration, denting the continent’s image as being open, liberal and tolerant. The development comes at an awkward moment for London, which hopes to negotiate trade agreements with the countries of the British Commonwealth as it withdraws from the European Union. The Windrush generation, named after one of the many vessels that ferried some half a million people from the Caribbean islands to the U.K. in the late 1940s, has fallen victim to a ruthless policy that stipulates annual net immigration objectives. In its wake, people with cultural links to the region but who have lived all their lives in the U.K. are having to provide proof of residence for every year of their stay of up to 60-70 years. Inability to furnish such evidence has been met with job losses, threat of deportation, withdrawal of welfare benefits and even denial of critical medical care. For Britons of West Indies origin, the enormous emotional trauma of being regarded as aliens in a country that had invited their families to rebuild its economy must be hard enough to endure. Knowledge that they are at the receiving end of a policy devised by Prime Minister Theresa May when she was in charge of the Home Office only adds to their anxiety. In the event, Ms. May’s apology to the heads of Commonwealth governments over the mistreatment of people from Britain’s former colonies, and the resignation of Amber Rudd as Home Secretary, brought too little comfort and too late. The Windrush saga is a reminder of the grotesque response from some central European governments in 2015 to prevent desperate Syrian migrants from entering their territory.

Poll position: on the delay in drafting the Cauvery scheme

The Centre’s excuse for being unable to submit a draft scheme on the Cauvery issue is so poor that it will convince nobody. That it was extremely reluctant to take a decision which could have electoral repercussions in Karnataka, which goes to the polls on May 12, is well known. But the Attorney General’s explanation that the draft scheme could not be readied because the Prime Minister and other ministers were busy “travelling” in Karnataka is laughable. While the world of politics is sometimes ruled more by expediency than law, the Centre has cut a sorry figure by admitting in court that its leaders are too preoccupied with an election campaign to fulfil a court directive — one over which it could be punished for contempt. That the Attorney General asked for the contempt petition to be taken up a day after the Karnataka election gives the game away. There are several reasons why the Centre’s stand is legally untenable and morally wrong. First and foremost, the framing of a scheme to implement a river water tribunal’s award is the Centre’s statutory obligation, and it is not open to the government to weigh its political or electoral implications in the face of such a deadline. Besides, the plea that the Prime Minister and the Union Minister concerned were unavailable is questionable — a day before the submission was made, the Cabinet had met and announced important decisions.

In its verdict on February 16, 2018, the apex court granted six weeks’ time to the Centre for framing the scheme. It added for good measure that no extension of time would be granted on any ground. Yet, on the eve of the expiry of the deadline, the Union government chose to file an application seeking three more months. Tamil Nadu filed a contempt petition. In its application for more time, the Centre had mentioned that it had convened a meeting of representatives of the four States and had also cited the differences of opinion among the States over the composition of the proposed mechanism. There was at least a ring of truth to this, given that consulting the parties over the composition of the scheme was necessary to frame it. Even then, the Supreme Court was unimpressed; it had asked the Centre to prove its bona fides by submitting a draft scheme on May 3. That it not only failed to do so, but also chose to cite the Prime Minister’s preoccupation with the campaign is bound to raise questions about its commitment to impartial governance and its disdain for judicial orders. The Centre’s attitude suggests that it hopes to persuade the court that a degree of political expediency in the light of the election is normal and acceptable. Clearly, it is not as keen on proving its own bona fides as it is on improving its prospects in Karnataka.

At least 22 dead as high-intensity squall hits parts of Rajasthan...OM NAMO SHIVAI....THANKS FOR SUPPORTING

At least 22 persons were killed and over 100 injured in different parts of Rajasthan as a high-speed dust storm followed by thundershowers wreaked havoc on Wednesday night, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Trees and electricity poles were uprooted and houses collapsed in the high-intensity squall.

According to preliminary figures released by the State Disaster Management and Relief Department, 11 people died in Bharatpur district, 4 in Alwar, 5 in Dholpur and one each in Jhunjhunu and Bikaner.

Relief and rescue teams have been pressed into service amid fears that the death toll may rise. The power discoms launched action on a war-footing to restore electricity supply in the affected areas, while the administration ordered survey for damaged properties.

Major destruction was reported from Alwar district, where trees were uprooted and power cables snapped. The entire district plunged into darkness due to disconnection of power supply.

Vasundhara expresses grief

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje expressed grief over the calamity and directed the Ministers and officers concerned to begin the relief work immediately and restore utilities. Ms. Raje said the government was working with the local authorities to mitigate the situation.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot cancelled his birthday celebrations on Thursday in view of the disaster, saying he was extremely grieved at the loss of lives and expressed solidarity with the victims.

Mr. Gehlot said blood donation camps and other public interest programmes marking his birthday would, however, continue.

Stretchy Artificial 'Skin' Could Give Robots a Sense of Touch

Rubber electronics and sensors that operate normally even when stretched to up to 50 percent of their length could work as artificial skin on robots, according to a new study. They could also give flexible sensing capabilities to a range of electronic devices, the researchers said.

Like human skin, the material is able to sense strain, pressure and temperature, according to the researchers.

"It's a piece of rubber, but it has the function of a circuit and sensors," said Cunjiang Yu, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston. Yu and his team describedtheir innovation in a study published online Sept. 8 in the journal Science Advances. [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

usaid the rubber electronics and sensors have a wide range of applications, from biomedical implants to wearable electronics to digitized clothing to "smart" surgical gloves.

Because the rubbery semiconductor starts in a liquid form, it could be poured into molds and scaled up to large sizes or even used like a kind of rubber-based ink and 3D printed into a variety of different objects, Yu told Live Science.

One of the more interesting applications could be for robots themselves, Yu said. Humans want to be able to work near robots and to coexist with them, he said. But for that to happen safely, the robot itself needs to be able to fully sense its surroundings. A robot — perhaps even a soft, flexible one, with skin that's able to feel its surroundings—could work side by side with humans without endangering them, Yu said.

In experiments, Yu and his colleagues used the electronic skin to accurately sense the temperature of hot and cold water in a cup and also translate computer signals sent to the robotic hand into finger gestures representing the alphabet from American Sign Language.

Electronics and robots are typically limited by the stiff and rigid semiconductor materials that make up their computer circuits. As such, most electronic devices lack the ability to stretch, the authors said in the study.

In research labs around the world, scientists are working on various solutions to produce flexible electronics. Some innovations include tiny, embedded, rigid transistors that are "islands"in a flexible matrix. Others involve using stretchy, polymer semiconductors. The main challenges with many of these ideas are that they're too difficult or expensive to allow for mass production, or the transmission of electrons through the material is not very efficient, Yu said.

This latest solution addresses both of those issues, the researchers said. Instead of inventing sophisticated polymers from scratch, the scientists turned to low-cost, commercially available alternatives to create a stretchy material that works as a stable semiconductor and can be scaled up for manufacturing, the researchers wrote in the study.

Yu and his colleagues made the stretchable material by mixing tiny, semiconducting nanofibrils — nanowires 1,000 times thinner than a human hair — into a solution of a widely used, silicon-based organic polymer, called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS for short.

When dried at 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), the solution hardened into a stretchable material embedded with millions of tiny nanowires that carry electric current.

The researchers applied strips of the material to the fingers of a robotic hand. The electronic skin worked as a sensor that produced different electrical signals when the fingers bent. Bending a finger joint puts strain on the material, and that reduces electric current flow in a way that can be measured.

For example, to express the sign-language letter "Y," the index, middle and ring fingers were completely folded, which created a higher electrical resistance. The thumb and pinky fingers were kept straight, which produced lower electrical resistance.

Using the electrical signals, the researchers were able spell out "YU LAB" in American Sign Language.

Yu said he and his colleagues are already working to improve the material's electronic performance and stretchiness well beyond the 50 percent mark that was tested in the new study.

"This will change the field of stretchable electronics," he said.

Real-Life Superpower: 'See' Around Corners with Smartphone Tech

In spy novels and superhero films, the ability to see through walls has always been a handy — not to mention, impressive — trick. And now, this tech could be available to people in real life, with smartphone cameras that can help detect moving objects even if they are hidden around corners, according to a new study.

This futuristic-sounding tech could one day help vehicles see around blind corners, the researchers said

We may eventually be able to use this idea to alert drivers to pedestrians or cars that are about to dart out from behind buildings into a driver's path. Perhaps a few seconds of notice could save lives," said study lead author Katie Bouman, an imaging scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.[Mind-Controlled Cats?! 6 Incredible Spy Technologies That Are Real]

"Search and rescue, or helping to understand what is going on behind a wall in a hostage situation, are also potential applications," Bouman added.

Researchers have taken many different approaches in trying to make the "superpower" of seeing around corners a reality. For example, in 2015, researchers showed they could use lasers to see objects around cornersby firing light pulses at surfaces near the items. Those surfaces could act like mirrors, scattering the laser pulses onto any hidden objects. By analyzing the light that was reflected off the objects and other surfaces back onto the scanners, researchers could reconstruct the shapes of the hidden items.

Although most strategies for seeing around corners "are really great ideas," they also "usually require complex modeling [or] specialized hardware, or are computationally expensive," Bouman told Live Science. The 2015 study's technique, for example, required both extremely fast lasers and extraordinarily sensitive cameras.

But Bouman and her colleagues' method for seeing around corners simply uses a smartphone camera.

"We use light naturally in the scene and do not have to introduce our own light to probe the hidden scene," Bouman said. "This allows us to use common consumer cameras and not specialized equipment to see around corners."

The new system, known as CornerCameras, analyzes light that is reflected off objects hidden around corners and that falls on the ground within the line of sight of the camera. This light is called the "penumbra."

he system analyzes this penumbra over several seconds, stitching together dozens of distinct images, according to the study. This data helps the system measure the speed and trajectory of objects around corners in real time. (It does not see any identifying details about those objects — just the fact that they are moving.)

"I think the biggest surprise was that the system worked well in situations that I would not have expected," Bouman said. "For instance, once, during filming, it started raining. This caused big raindrops to start appearing on the ground, changing the color of the concrete floor."

Because CornerCameras is trying to analyze light signals that are just 0.1 percent of the total brightness of the ground, "I thought these raindrops would wipe out any signal we had," Bouman said. However, CornerCameras analyzes the data of a scene across dozens of images, so "the effect of the raindrops was essentially averaged out."

One current limitation of CornerCameras is that it requires a stationary camera that's held very steady. "In many situations, such as in a collision-avoidance system on a car, you do not have the luxury of a stationary camera," Bouman said. The researchers are now focused on getting the system to work first on a moving wheelchair and eventually on a moving car, she said.

Future research will also aim to make CornerCameras work in a variety of lighting situations, or in changing lighting conditions, such as when clouds overhead constantly move in front of the sun. "Getting the system to work in these scenarios would open up the possibility of it being able to be used by a person with a handheld smartphone," Bouman said.

Bouman and her colleagues will detail their findings on Oct. 25 at the International Conference on Computer Vision in Venice, Italy.