Windrush victims are having to wait too long for their compensation to come through in a “slow and onerous” Home Office process, campaigners have claimed.

The Black Cultural Archives (BCA) group and victims’ lawyers said they have not yet spoken to anyone caught up in the Windrush scandal who have received a final payout. Many have been waiting months for a response. ​

Organisations and lawyers representing around 100 victims have also criticised the way claims need to be submitted, saying the complicated process causes further “trauma”.

The Home Office said it was “wrong to claim that no compensation payments have been made”, but refused to confirm how many had been finalised, saying more information would be provided in due course.

Arike Oke, BCA’s managing director, said although the group supports the scheme, “it is yet to provide payments for people who have suffered, and are suffering, as a result of government errors and policy”.

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 Oke said: “The scheme itself is difficult to access and causes additional trauma to those already made to suffer by asking them to navigate further unduly onerous and unnecessary amounts of evidence to be granted the compensation they are due.”

Jamie Beagent, partner and head of human rights at legal firm Leigh Day, who is representing around 30 victims, said “absolutely nothing” had been offered in formal payouts to his clients so far and he was not aware of anyone else who had been paid.

“I think the scheme has been handled very, very badly,” he said. “What little trust and confidence there was in the scheme has quickly dissipated, given the delay and complexity of it.”

He said reports of victim Glenda Caesar’s £22,000 offer, which she said she rejected as “crumbs” after being out of work for a decade, was the “first indication” of how the Home Office was approaching the scheme and this made him “worried”.

Campaigner Patrick Vernon said he did not know of anyone who had been paid and called the compensation scheme “narrow and restrictive”.

BCA, the largest UK source of black British history and culture, is hosting a public meeting next month and a series of free legal surgeries in a bid to help those awaiting compensation.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are determined to right the wrongs experienced by the Windrush generation.”

They said the scheme was “carefully designed with independent oversight so that it is as easy to use as possible” and “aims to provide a decision to applicants as soon as possible but it is right that we take the time to ensure these are dealt with properly”.

Victims who are unhappy with the offer made can request a review and an appeal after that.

Independent advice and assistance are available for those completing claims, the department said.

Up to 15,000 eligible claims are expected to be lodged for the estimated £200m fund under the two-year initiative, by people facing difficulties demonstrating their immigration status.

The Windrush scandal involved British citizens, who came to the UK particularly from the Caribbean but also from Commonwealth countries across the globe, being deported, detained and denied services over of a lack of documentation.