Grandchildren of the Windrush quit Britain for a better life in the Caribbean

12 April 2012
Nearly 60 years ago, their forebears boarded the Empire Windrush in search of a better life.

Now, as members of the West Indian community tire of "expensive, over-taxed, gloomy" Britain, they are increasingly making the journey home to the Caribbean.

An organisation which helps Britons of Jamaican ancestry to return says there has been a surge in demand for its services.

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Jamaicans arrive in Britain

Growing numbers of families are leaving, with many citing the desire to move their children from failing inner-city schools in the UK into a system with traditional values of discipline and academic rigour.

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They can cash in on high UK house prices to swap terraced houses for large waterfront properties.

Percival La Touche, the founder of the Association for the Resettlement of Returning Residents, has estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 Jamaicans and young Britons of Jamaican ancestry will settle in the country over the next five years.

The figures, based on registrations of interest, represent a six-fold increase on the annual average over the past 15 years.

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Now many are returning to the island

Mr La Touche, an engineer who worked in the UK for 28 years before returning to Jamaica in 1979, says a similar increase is taking place in Barbados, Trinidad and other islands in the region.

He said: "Soaring property prices in the UK mean they have the means to come home and enjoy better weather and lower living costs.

"For £500,000, which is what some get for a London terrace, they can buy something here with six beds, five baths, three acres and a view and have £200,000 left over.

"Some have started to build houses even before selling up in the UK.

"Based on the number of calls I am getting and research into the situation in other countries in the region, I estimate a six-fold increase in migration to Jamaica over the next five years, and a similar percentage increase throughout the West Indies."

The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury on June 22, 1948, carrying 492 passengers from Jamaica - then a British colony - in search of work.

They were temporarily housed in South London, close to the employment exchange in Brixton where many sought work.

Carol Brown, 43, is putting her three-bedroom house in Brixton on the market, and moving to a five bedroom property she has bought in Mandeville, Jamaica.

Ms Brown, who was born in Jamaica but has lived in the UK for 28 years, said: "I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which means in the winter I am a totally different person. And there are so many taxes here.

"Because of the London congestion charge, I can't even afford to use my car during the day."

Ms Brown will be taking her 11-year-old son - the youngest of her three children - with her. She said: "The schools do traditional exams, the discipline is better and I like the fact that they wear uniforms."

George Pennard, who runs an "exodus" service on ic3tv.com, a website for black people, agreed that demand was rocketing: "We have a lot of people who are motivated by a desire for a better quality of life."

Michael Eboda, editor of New Nation, Britain's biggest black newspaper, said the exodus was a huge talking point in the black community.

He said: "People want a better standard of living and better schools. Then there is the question of gun crime. In the Caribbean, black kids are not shooting one another in the random way it happens in Britain.

"People say there is no freedom in Britain. There are cameras everywhere, there is a traffic warden on every corner and the police are more likely to stop you. Add to that the tax burden. You cannot make real money in this country."

Additional reporting by Oliver Wadeson and Ross Slater.

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