THE government’s treatment of stranded Brits in India has been compared to the Windrush scandal by Slough's MP

In an interview with the BBC, Tan Dhesi stressed that those who are permanent British residents but have an Indian, Pakistani, or European Union passport “cannot be abandoned” and claimed the government has learned nothing from the Windrush scandal two years ago.

The scandal followed the Windrush generation who arrived from Commonwealth countries between 1948 and 1971 and had lived in the UK for decades when some were wrongly told they were in the country illegally.

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The Labour politician welcomed the government’s announcement of additional flights – but was left ‘disappointed’ that those with indefinite leave to remain stamps are only being helped “where possible”.

The government pledged £75 million to charter flights to locked down countries because of the coronavirus – but some MPs called the repatriation efforts ‘disjointed’ and ‘uncorridinated’.

Tan Dhesi said: “These individuals who came to the UK who some have been living here for decades. They have lived, worked, and paid taxes here.

“They have made an immense contribution to our community and society and it is at this very point that they have gone on holiday and deserve to be brought back.

“Has the government learned nothing from the Windrush scandal?”

He added: “If they are permanent British residents then they deserve the very best of our government. They need to be looked after and cannot be abandoned because they have indefinite leave to remain.

“Let us not forget it’s not just them who are NHS workers – sometimes it’s their children, partners, or their grandchildren who are now living and working as NHS staff and many of them are British citizens.

“We owe it to those people – to our people – to bring them back home.”

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The Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord Tariq Ahmad, announced on May 7 that five further flights to India are being scheduled, and over 16,500 British travellers will be brought back once these flights are completed.

However, he said the government is still seeking to help non-British UK residents with indefinite leave to remain where possible.