Windrush memorial to be erected at London's Waterloo Station
Theresa May said the monument will be seen by millions of people from around the world at the UK's busiest railway station.
Saturday 22 June 2019 08:37, UK
A Windrush monument will be built in London's Waterloo Station, the prime minister has announced.
It is being backed by £1m in funding by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for a "lasting, fitting tribute".
Theresa May said: "This monument will be seen by millions of people from all around the world who pass through this station each year, and will be a lasting legacy to the tremendous contribution the Windrush generation and their children have made to our great country."
London's largest and busiest station was chosen from a list of potential sites by the Windrush Commemoration Committee, who will commission and work with designers and stakeholders to consider how best to create a permanent tribute to the Windrush generation and their descendants.
Chair of the committee, Baroness Floella Benjamin, said a Windrush monument will be a "symbolic link to our past as we celebrate our future".
She added: "The committee is determined to build a monument of great beauty and emotional impact which will lift the hearts of those who visit when it's unveiled."
News of the monument's landmark site comes as the nation celebrates its first ever Windrush Day on Saturday, marking 71 years since the arrival of the first "pioneers".
Around 500 migrants from the Caribbean arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex in 1948 aboard the MV Empire Windrush, at the invitation of the British government, to help rebuild the UK after the Second World War.
The day will be marked by government-funded school projects, street parties, exhibitions, and talks and workshops.
Last year, a furious backlash broke out over the treatment of members of the Windrush generation, named after a ship that brought migrants to the UK from the Caribbean in 1948.
Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain.
However, many of them were not issued with any documents confirming their status.
It emerged that long-term UK residents were denied access to services, held in detention or removed despite living legally in the country for decades.