Crossing Continents

'Gone to Foreign' from Jamaica


Listen Later

When someone in Jamaica emigrates to the UK, it is said they have 'gone to foreign'. Over the past 70 years several hundred thousand Jamaicans have done this, following in the footsteps of the so-called 'Windrush generation' who first arrived in Britain in the late 1940s. But the spirit of adventure and optimism those early pioneers bought with them has changed over the years and a recent political scandal now finds some of them unwanted and rejected by Britain. Following changes to immigration law and failing to comply with citizenship requirements, they have been designated illegal immigrants. On returning from holiday in the Caribbean, some of the children of the Windrush generation (now in their 50s and 60s) have been refused entry back to Britain, and others have been deported from Britain back to the Caribbean. For Crossing Continents, Colin Grant travels to Jamaica to meet two men who, despite having lived in the UK for decades, working and paying taxes, find themselves in limbo, trapped and unable to return to the place they call home. What happens when you are stranded in a place you were never really familiar with, an island which you have little memory of, and may not have returned to for half a century? Grant hears of their endeavour to return to the UK and how they have struggled to keep up hope in the face of a very painful and public rejection.

Colin Grant reporting and producing.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Crossing ContinentsBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

74 ratings


More shows like Crossing Continents

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,421 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

370 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,812 Listeners

File on 4 Investigates by BBC Radio 4

File on 4 Investigates

39 Listeners

Start the Week by BBC Radio 4

Start the Week

156 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,665 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

310 Listeners

Profile by BBC Radio 4

Profile

102 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

481 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,739 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,075 Listeners

The Bottom Line by BBC Radio 4

The Bottom Line

36 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

893 Listeners

Witness History by BBC World Service

Witness History

963 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,065 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,045 Listeners

Last Word by BBC Radio 4

Last Word

45 Listeners

Moral Maze by BBC Radio 4

Moral Maze

71 Listeners

The Audio Long Read by The Guardian

The Audio Long Read

838 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

758 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

82 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,169 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,972 Listeners

The Great Post Office Trial by BBC Radio 4

The Great Post Office Trial

35 Listeners