Jamaica is the largest and most populous Commonwealth Caribbean country. Initially colonised by the Spanish, it was seized by the British in 1655. Under British rule, Jamaica became a major producer of sugar using enslaved people from West Africa to provide labour on the plantations. The island experienced a major slave revolt in 1831, an event which helped to expedite the abolition of slavery. Following emancipation, the British imported indentured workers from India and China to fill the labour gap. A further revolt in 1865 was savagely suppressed by the British authorities. Major unrest in 1938 prompted a reappraisal of British policy in the Caribbean. It gained independence from the UK in 1962 and remains a Commonwealth Realm. In the post-war period, far more migrants came to Britain from Jamaica than from any other Caribbean nation. This is reflected in applications to the Windrush Scheme, established in May 2018 to provide documentation proving the recipient’s right to remain in the UK. According to Home Office figures, by November 2023 there had been 3485 successful applications by people of Jamaican origin. This compares with 2123 successful applications from the whole of the rest of the Caribbean and 2456 from India. Current population c. 2,735,000.
Dr Joe Aldred
Dr Joe Aldred is a retired Christian Ecumenist, writer, speaker and broadcaster. He was a member of the Windrush...
Grace Brown
Grace Brown is a public law practitioner with a particular focus on human rights, immigration and refugee law. She...
Dr Natalie Dietrich Jones
Dr Dietrich Jones is a Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at...
Rev Clive Foster, MBE
Rev Clive Foster is a senior pastor in the church, supporting the Local Superintendent and Ministry of the Pilgrim...
David Fitton CMG
David Fitton CMG was British High Commissioner to Jamaica from 2013 until 2017 where he was responsible for both...
Birmingham Focus Group
This interview took place with three Birmingham residents Ossy, Miss Brown (Leonora) and Blossom. Miss Brown arrived...
Yvonne Grant MBE
Yvonne Grant MBE is the founder of the Open Arms Development Centre, a homeless shelter in Kingston, Jamaica which...
Cecil Gutzmore
Cecil Gutzmore was born in Jamaica in the 1940s and moved to the UK to join his family in 1961. He is a veteran...
Dawn Hill CBE
Dawn Hill CBE played a leading role in setting up and running the governance of the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) when...
Jennifer Housen
Jennifer Housen is barrister-at-law, England and Wales and attorney-at-law New York and Jamaica. For years, she warned...
Roland Houslin
Roland Houslin was born in the UK in the late 1960s to parents of Jamaican heritage. He served in the British army...
Charlton McFarlane
Charlton McFarlane is the Chief Executive Officer at the Registrar General Department, the only repository in Jamaica...
Deryck Murray
His Excellency Deryck Lance Murray was the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Jamaica (2019-2023). Murray...
Aloun Ndombet-Assamba
Aloun Ndombet-Assamba served as Jamaica High Commissioner in London between 2012 and 2016. She is a politician,...
Seth George Ramocan
His Excellency Seth George Ramocan was Jamaica High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2016 until 2022. In...
Charlotte Tobierre
Charlotte Tobierre was born in Essex to parents of Saint Lucian and English heritage and is an active member of...
Professor Patrick Vernon
Professor Patrick Vernon, OBE is a social commentator, campaigner and cultural historian. He led the campaign for a...
June Elizabeth White Smith Gulley
June-Elizabeth White-Smith-Gulley was born in the UK to parents of Jamaican Heritage. She recognised early on that...
Andrew Wynter
Andrew Wynter is the Chief Executive Officer for the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) in...