The United Reformed Church has joined a coalition of faith groups and leaders in writing to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to urge her to rethink the government’s proposed New Plan for Immigration, which they say “lacks humanity and respect for human dignity.”
Signatories include the Jesuit Refugee Service, Caritas, Welcome Churches, the Salvation Army, Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network, UK Welcomes Refugees, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the United Free Church of Scotland and many others.
The full statement follows:
On 24 March 2021, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, announced the government’s New Plan for Immigration (NPFI), which was launched alongside a consultation on the proposals. Following the closure of the consultation on 6 May 2021, the government is planning to introduce a bill to enshrine the proposals into UK law.
As a coalition of Christian faith groups and faith leaders brought together by the St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales), we believe these proposals lack humanity and respect for human dignity. We believe it would be wrong to create a system in which the way people enter the UK will impact how their asylum claim is processed and the status they might receive.
Many people who are forced to flee their homes in desperate circumstances simply have no choice but to cross borders informally to reach a safe haven; to penalise them for this is to abandon the very principle of international protection. Moves to criminalise and penalise undocumented entry to the UK set out in the NPFI mean it will effectively be impossible for most people to claim asylum in the UK because safe and legal routes for claiming asylum in the UK are extremely limited, and could never feasibly be made available to all who need them. We cannot ignore their plight and reduce it to a statistical act of bureaucracy.
This nation has a long history of welcoming people from all over the world. People who have arrived in our communities through the asylum system are our neighbours, members of our congregations and valued members of our neighbourhoods. We should recognise our common interests of family, community and faith, and embrace the diversity which makes our communities dynamic and vibrant. We call for a rejection of hostility towards people seeking asylum and an end to punitive measures aimed at people who are seeking sanctuary in our country.
We welcome the government’s commitment to resettlement through the new UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) and look forward to the announcement of resettlement targets for the years to come, but this must not be at the expense of an asylum system that strives to offer protection to those who need it.
We urge the Home Secretary to embed principles of welcome, protection and integration into the government’s policies. We must treat individuals and families seeking sanctuary on our shores as our brothers and sisters and valued members of our communities. How we respond to those in need has profound implications for who we are as a society. Recognising our obligations to those who seek sanctuary is fundamental to building a just and flourishing nation.
Signed by
The Revd Clare Downing and Mr Peter Pay, Moderators of General Assembly, United Reformed Church
The Church at Carrs Lane, Birmingham (Methodist and United Reformed Church)
Elizabeth Palmer – CEO St Vincent de Paul Society
Ben Gilchrist – Chief Executive of Caritas Shrewsbury
Lizzie Reynolds – Ordinand on placement at Ripon Cathedral
Sarah Teather, Director, Jesuit Refugee Service UK
Emily Holden – Acting CEO at Welcome Churches
Anne-Marie Tarter – Member of the congregation of Ripon Cathedral
The Revd Dr Simon Cartwright – Vicar at Walbrook Epiphany Team
Sister Margaret Barrett – Director of Mission, Daughters of Charity Services
Naomi Bennett and Danielle Wilson, Co-CEOs at Red Letter Christians UK
Carmelite Prior of Aylesford in Kent
Barbara Forbes, Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network
The Revd Will Leaf, Vicar at St Mark’s Kensal Rise
Claudia Holmes – UKCEN Founder
Sally Smith, Sanctus St Mark’s, Diocese of Lichfield Sally Smith
Catherine Gladwell, Chief Executive, Refugee Education UK
The Revd Ian Rutherford, City Centre Minister, Methodist Central Hall, Manchester
Mauricio Silva, Coordinator at Fatima House
Ben Bano & Phil Kerton, Co-Directors – Seeking Sanctuary
Ros Holland, Chief Exec, Boaz Trust Ros Holland
The Revd Gerard Goshawk, Six Ways Erdington Baptist Church, Birmingham
The Revd Jon Scamman, Vicar of St Thomas’ Church Lancaster
Reynette Roberts MBE, CEO of Oasis Cardiff
Nadine Daniel BEM, Campaigns and Communications Coordinator, UK Welcomes Refugees
The Revd Ian Dyble, Priest in Charge, The Weybourne Group of Churches (CofE)
Hugh McLeod, Derby Quakers Hugh McLeod
Sr Margaret Walsh, Patron and Trustee, St Chad’s Sanctuary
Domenica Pecoraro, Kent Refugee Project Officer, Diocese of Canterbury
Patrick Coyle, Chair of Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales
Mark Wiggin, Director of Caritas Diocese of Salford
Julian Prior, CEO, Action Foundation
Church and Peace, Britain and Ireland Region
National Justice and Peace Network
Barbara Kentish, Committee member of Westminster Justice and Peace
Paul Southgate, Chair of National Justice and Peace Network
Christians Aware
Vicar is David Tomlinson, St Paul’s in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham
Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
People Not Walls UK
The Revd Lynn Green – General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Fr Michael Hartley
The Revd Maureen Priddin, Chaplain for Justice and Peace Derby Cathedral, Member of the Derby City of Sanctuary network
John O Fulton, Moderator of the General Assembly, United Free Church of Scotland
Bishop Nolan, President of Justice and Peace Scotland, commission of the Catholic Church in Scotland
David Moore, Easton Christian Family Centre
Revd Canon Simon Gatenby, Christ Church Brunswick, Manchester
South Lancaster Refugee Welcome
Natalie Williams, CEO, Jubilee+
Jo Simister, Derby City Deanery
Lancaster Quakers
Fr Dominic Robinson, Chairman Westminster Justice and Peace Commission
The Revd Carol Backhouse, Christ Church, Lancaster (Church of England)
The Revd Alton Bell, Movement for Change and Reconciliation
Fr Peter Hughes SSC, Regional Director of the British Region of the Society of St Columban
Community Church Harlesden
Carolyn Lawrence, Vice President of the Methodist Conference
The Rt Revd Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly, The Church of Scotland
RC Southwark archdiocese
National Board of Catholic Women
Fr Habte Ukbay, JPIC Southwark
Jo Watters, Father Hudson’s Care based in the Archdiocese of Birmingham
Derby City of sanctuary network, Chaplain for Justice and Peace Derby Cathedral
Dean Pallant, Lt Colonel, The Salvation Army
Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director, The Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE)
Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, The Ark Synagogue
Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi
Rabbi Sybil Sheridan – Executive Director, Lyons Learning Project
Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild
Rabbi Kath Vardi
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue
Rabbi Dr Barbara Borts, Associate Lecturer, Dept of Music, Newcastle University and Honorary Research Associate, Dept of Anthropology, Durham University
Rabbi Daniel Lichman
Clifton Road Interfaith Committee
Image: Julie Ricard/Unsplash.
Published: 11 May 2021