Holocaust survivors and Windrush: How the UK is better off for its immigration

Metro.co.uk’s Immigration Nation series explores the rich stories of immigrants in the UK (Pictures: Supplied)

King Alfred the Great! The Glorious Revolution! David Hume!

Those were the answers I confidently shouted at my husband, Matt, as he quizzed  me earlier this year for my Life in the UK test – a requirement to stay in the UK for me as an Australian non-citizen.

Thankfully, all my practising paid off and within minutes of leaving Croydon’s grey soulless visa centre, I was elated to receive an email saying that I had passed.

It’s just one of the hoops immigrants like me have to jump through in order to either get Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or citizenship in the UK – not to mention extortionate fees and lengthy forms.

Shining a spotlight on issues like this is why I set up the weekly Metro.co.uk series, Immigration Nation, in January 2021, which explores the rich stories of immigrants in the UK.

Over the years, we’ve featured over 130 pieces from all over the world, from Uganda and Gaza to France and Brazil. 

As for my own immigration journey, it’s not been the smoothest ride – but I know I’m in a privileged position compared to others.

I moved here in March 2016 on a two-year visa with the plan to go back to Sydney once it expired. But a few weeks after touching down, I met my partner Matt and things progressed fairly quickly. 

We had a civil partnership ceremony in August 2017, where we walked down the aisle of the registry office to Loreen’s Euphoria before a huge LGBTQ+ reception with our friends and family.

I’ve paid over £5,000 in immigration application fees so far (Picture: James Besanvalle)

I then spent over five years on a spouse visa before getting ILR in March this year. But every interaction with the Home Office felt make-or-break. Could one innocent error on seemingly never-ending forms lead to getting kicked out of the country?

I’ve paid over £5,000 in immigration application fees so far, with a further £1,580 to pay for British citizenship next year. But I’m certainly not alone. 

Earlier this year, we told the story of Fisayo, who estimated that she’d spent at least £20,000 for visa fees for her and her three children, while Varisha Tariq wrote about spending over £40,000 to study in London as an international student. Meanwhile, asylum seeker Mamoud shared his experience of not being able to afford to feed himself with the amount of money the Home Office gives him – just £5.84 a day.

Immigrants aren’t just facing financial hardships though. Faith Obi gave her heartbreaking account of being trafficked into the UK as a teenager, while Lord Alf Dubs shared the story of his escape from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia via the Kindertransport – and explained why he won’t stop fighting for the rights of refugees today. 

Then there was the story of Ridwan, who spoke about what it was like to lose both his mother and brother while trying to come to the UK by boat at just 13 years old.

Now, as Immigration Nation comes to an end after nearly three years, we catch up with four contributors to find out what’s happened since they spoke to Metro.co.uk.

‘I was fighting to stay here while my wife battled cancer’

Thomas was one of thousands of people caught up in the Government’s ‘hostile environment’ policy (Picture: Charlotte Tobierre)

We first shared 69-year-old Thomas Tobierre’s story in January 2021 as our first ever piece for the Immigration Nation series. As part of the Windrush generation, St Lucian-born Thomas came to the UK from Barbados in February 1961 at the age of seven.

After leaving school at 15, he was an engineer for almost 50 years before redundancies in 2017 forced him to contact a job centre. This is where he was informed that he ‘technically’ had no Right to Work, even though he’d been working for nearly half a decade.

He didn’t realise it at the time, but Thomas was one of thousands of people caught up in the Government’s ‘hostile environment’ policy from 2012, which enforced stricter immigration controls on people who didn’t previously need documentation.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t find this out until later, so Thomas had to fight to prove his legal status – then to get compensation for his loss of wages for the year that he couldn’t work.

While this fight raged on, his wife Caroline was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. 

Thomas said in his Metro.co.uk article: ‘Imagine trying to sort out your residency status while trying to support your wife through cancer. It really puts things into perspective.’

Caroline’s cancer had returned and she was given just 12 weeks to live (Picture: Charlotte Tobierre)

Less than a month after his piece was published, Thomas accepted an offer – something that both he and his family believe was a direct result of pressure applied to the Home Office after the article went live.

However, although he accepted the offer it didn’t include compensation for the pension, so Thomas was still at a loss after dipping into both his savings and pension to survive for the year he couldn’t work. To make matters worse – later that year – the family were devastated to find out that Caroline’s cancer had returned and she was given just 12 weeks to live.

As she had been in the middle of applying for compensation as a family member affected by the Windrush scandal, what followed was a race against time to get this paid out before her passing.

Thomas Tobierre and his daughter Charlotte (Picture: Charlotte Tobierre)

Sadly, Caroline died in November 2021 with her claim outstanding.

‘We were devastated,’ the couple’s daughter, Charlotte, tells Metro.co.uk. ‘My Dad has never even received an apology for this.’

Often acting as a spokesperson for her parents, a few weeks after her mother’s death, Charlotte appeared on LBC to voice her disappointment about how her claim was handled. Soon after, the Home Office emailed their family’s lawyer to pay out the money.

‘I expect it was the interview,’ she says. ‘Much like your article pushed my dad’s claim.’

Thomas and Caroline Tobierre (Picture: Charlotte Tobierre)

Since then, Thomas has escalated his claim for pension loss compensation to the ombudsman, where it’s still being deliberated – along with a formal complaint over how Caroline’s case was handled.

‘My Dad is 70 this year, I just want him to have some time away from this scandal,’ says Charlotte. ‘The last four years of my mum’s life were ruined, it would be nice to have time to heal and grieve.’

‘I may not be alive today to tell my story’

Both of Sacha Kester’s parents were murdered in Auschwitz (Picture: Sacha Kester)

I met 87-year-old Sacha Kester and his daughter Susanna at a Holocaust Memorial Day Trust event in 2021, where he told me how he survived Nazi occupation in France from the age of four years old.

Both of his parents were murdered in Auschwitz, while he and his brother Albert – who was five years older – fled to a small French village where they secretly went into hiding with a kind Polish woman.

When Sacha was in his mid-50s he finally feeling comfortable enough to come out as gay (Picture: Sacha Kester)

After the war ended in 1945, Albert found distant relatives in London for Sacha to live with, while he stayed in Paris. Although he eventually married and had kids, when Sacha was in his mid-50s he finally feeling comfortable enough to come out as gay.

‘If I was just a little bit older and openly gay during the Second World War, I may not be alive today to tell my story,’ he said in his original piece.

Speaking with Metro.co.uk again, Sacha says he continues to have an active life and is grateful for his health. ‘I cherish every moment as I am aware that old age could suddenly limit my ability to enjoy my activities,’ he adds.

Sacha also continues to sing in the London Gay Men’s Chorus, which has featured in a World Aids Day concert at the West London Synagogue and Hannah Waddingham’s ‘Home for Christmas’.

Sacha admits that he fears the world may be repeating the mistakes of the past.

‘It’s hard to avoid getting depressed,’ he says. ‘I find the relentless movement towards division, violence, and fascism quite frightening.’

‘The drift towards populism continues in many parts of Europe and the USA. The resurgence of antisemitism and islamophobia is worrying, too.’

Sacha continues to sing in the London Gay Men’s Chorus (Picture: Sacha Kester)

However, he adds, there is hope. ‘There are a few crumbs of comfort,’ he says. ‘Poland has ousted its right-wing government; Trump may be legally prevented from running for president again; the Tory party are unlikely to retain their power after the next general election – and climate change is beginning to be taken seriously. 

‘Here’s to 2024 unravelling some of the knotty problems causing such misery for so many people.’

‘I hope the diagnosis can finally give me some relief’

Joyce Yang began calorie counting when she moved to the UK (Picture: Joyce Yang)

Prior to coming to the UK to study journalism as a Chinese international student, Joyce Yang had an eating disorder that she hadn’t fully come to terms with. However, when she moved to London in 2020, it was only exacerbated due to the way calories are labelled on the back of food items.

‘Obsessively’, Joyce began calorie counting, to the point where she was the same weight as when she was 12 years old and terrified that she was going to die.

Ever since then, she’s been slowly improving.

Joyce is now studying a Masters in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London (Picture: Joyce Yang)

‘I’m at a healthy weight now and don’t think about food as much as before but the habit will still take some time to break,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.

Since her piece was published, she’s now studying a Masters in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London.

‘Writing about my own experience gave me the confidence to continue doing journalism as a foreign student,’ she says. Joyce has since done freelance work with student publications and the Islington Gazette too.

Joyce is currently in the process of seeking an autism diagnosis (Picture: Joyce Yang)

Her fight with her health isn’t over though, as she is currently in the process of seeking an autism diagnosis – something she believes might be linked to her eating disorder. ‘Rigidity and hyperfixation are all part of it,’ she explains.

Joyce adds: ‘Trying to get a diagnosis is a big step for me as I always felt so different from other kids and didn’t know why. I hope the diagnosis can finally give me some relief.

‘In my experience, neurodiversity awareness in East Asia basically doesn’t exist, so I do feel lucky that I’m getting a diagnosis here.’

‘My wife had to act as both mother and father’

Kaveh Khezri came to the UK alone as his children were too young for the journey (Picture: Kaveh Khezri)

Living in his home country of Iran, in 2009 Kaveh Khezri was accused of conspiring against the government. He was held in solitary confinement for over four months where he had his arm, nose and teeth broken. 

After his release – and a series of other life-threating run-ins – he and his wife fled to Turkey in 2014, where they had two children. But then he was forced to flee again due to his political affiliations with a left-wing party that was outspoken about the Turkish government.

But this time, he was alone as his children were too young for the journey. 

After perilously crossing the English Channel by boat in April last year, Kaveh immediately applied for asylum. Soon he discovered he was at risk of being sent to Rwanda via the Government’s off-shore processing plan.

Kaveh says he was ‘really glad’ the Supreme Court ruled the Government’s Rwanda plan unlawful in November (Picture: Kaveh Khezri)

Thankfully, the 42-year-old was given refugee status in February this year and a few months after sharing his story with us in June, Kaveh was finally reunited with his family in Manchester, where they’re now all settled.

‘The two years that we were apart was not easy for any of us,’ he tells Metro.co.uk. ‘My wife had to act as both mother and father for them while she was worried sick about me.’

‘But now, although our life situation is not perfect and we have to build our life from scratch, at least we are safe and together.‘My daughter is in year 5 at school, my son goes to nursery and I work part-time for a local council as I really want to make up for the time that I missed.’

Kaveh says that he’s also stayed in touch with an older British couple who supported him while he was staying in a hotel for asylum seekers in Carlisle, near Newcastle. They would invite him over for a cup of tea or dinner when he was on his own in the asylum process.

‘They phone us every week and invite us to their home in Carlisle regularly,’ he explains. ‘They are our new British family now.’

Speaking of the Government’s continued plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, Kaveh says he was ‘really glad’ the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful in November, adding: ‘This plan would not fit the UK and its welcoming generous people and culture at all.’

Metro.co.uk would like to extend a special thank you to the charities and organisations who have helped organise stories for the series, including IMIX, Safe Passage, Windrush Lives, Terrence Higgins Trust, Freedom from Torture, Praxis, Refugee Council, Rainbow Migration, British Red Cross, Amnesty International UK, City of Sanctuary, Refugee Action and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]. 

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE : My parents were killed during the Holocaust – I never got a chance to say goodbye

MORE : I’m an asylum seeker and was in the hotel targeted by far-right rioters

MORE : The Home Office warned I had less than 24 hours to move to the Bibby Stockholm barge

Over three years, Metro.co.uk has featured more 130 pieces from all over the world for our Immigration Nation series.