Theresa May has been accused of “arrogance” after announcing plans to create a memorial to the Windrush generation, as campaigners urged her to rip up the government’s hostile environment policies.

Up to £1m in funding has been earmarked by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the permanent monument at London’s Waterloo station.

Karen Doyle, national organiser of Windrush pressure group Movement for Justice, told The Independent: “Memorialising the arrival and contribution of the Windrush generation is important and welcome.

“However a gesture in bronze and steel feels empty and meaningless from a government that championed the hostile environment bringing destitution, detention, deportation, exile and death to this important generation.

“It is particularly galling when there are still so many who live in fear of detention and deportation, the descendants and family members who are currently excluded from help by this government.”

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I can’t face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

Ms Doyle added: “Ripping up the hostile environment polices would be a fitting monument. Most monuments memorialise issues and people that are long dead – the injustice faced by this generation and their families is still very much alive.”

Arthur Torrington, chair of the Windrush Foundation, told The Guardian: “You can’t just bully a community and say, ‘Here is a monument’. This is the same arrogance that led to the Windrush scandal. In a sense they’re looking for another one by treating the Caribbean community like children.”

The memorial was announced on Saturday, as the country observed the first Windrush Day to mark 71 years since the arrival of the first “pioneers”.

Situated at the country’s busiest railway station, the prime minister said the monument would be seen by “millions of people from all around the world” every year.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, also criticised the hostile environment policy.

He said: “The disgraceful way the Windrush generation and their families have been treated by the government is a national scandal.

“Their experiences clearly demonstrate that the immigration process is difficult to navigate and the increasing severity of the hostile environment is putting Londoners with the right to be here at risk of destitution.”

He pledged to invest up to £370,000 to help immigrants access legal support to secure their immigration status.

Ms May said: “The Windrush generation helped lay the foundations for the country we know today, which is richer and stronger as a result of their hard work and dedication to the UK.

“This monument will be a lasting legacy to the tremendous contribution the Windrush generation and their children have made to our great country.”

Responding to Ms May’s announcement, Dawn Butler, the shadow minister for women and equalities, tweeted: “This video is an insult from the person who created the hostile environment that deported black British citizens.

“We don’t need May’s empty rhetoric. We need justice and compensation. We need May to resolve all outstanding cases and end the racist hostile environment now.”

Windrush scandal: What you need to know

On 22 June, 1948, around 500 migrants from the Caribbean arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex aboard the Empire Windrush. They had been invited by the British government to help rebuild the UK in the aftermath of the Second World War.

However, ministers and the Home Office have been criticised in recent years over revelations about how members of the Windrush generation and their children have been wrongly detained and deported, while others were denied access to healthcare, work, housing benefits and pensions.