Leaders of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches have issued the following statement in response to the government’s announcements this week on proposed changes to its asylum and returns policy:
Let us keep loving our neighbours.
Public debate around migration has increasingly been shaped by voices that trade in fear, resentment, and the scapegoating of those who already carry heavy burdens. We fear that the tone and content of the Home Secretary’s recent announcement on asylum policy reform risks deepening these fractures rather than healing them.
What threatens our social fabric is not the presence of vulnerable people seeking sanctuary, but rhetoric and policy that sets neighbour against neighbour and encourages suspicion instead of solidarity. The solution is not to try and appease those who seek to divide us, but to build a fair, compassionate and well-managed asylum system, that reflects Britain’s values and responsibilities.
Our Christian faith compels us to hold that such a system should prioritise human dignity, and treat people as any of us would wish to be treated. That means it must be resourced to make decisions swiftly rather than leaving people in limbo for months or even years; allow those applying for asylum to work, support themselves and contribute to society; enable families to be together if possible; and encourage integration into local communities. Yet many of the UK government’s new proposals would have the opposite effect, and place more demands on vulnerable individuals and an overstretched system.
We welcome the promise of new safe regulated routes for people to be provided with sanctuary in the UK, sponsored by individuals and communities. We have long believed this to be a far better approach to tackling dangerous channel crossings than ever more hostile policies. In this, we glimpse seeds of hope.
Our churches continue to be enriched by the involvement of those who have sought refuge in this country, and our experience is of people who wish to contribute positively to British society. Our calling and commitment is to keep loving our neighbours, and our heartfelt longing is for our society’s approach to immigration to embody those values.”
Ms Catriona Wheeler, General Assembly Moderator, United Reformed Church
The Revd Richard Andrew, President of the Methodist Conference
The Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
A prayer
God of welcome
you call us to love our neighbours as ourselves
and show your care for those who are most vulnerable.
We hold before you today
those forced to make dangerous journeys in search of safety
children separated from their families
and those who have been waiting a long time for good news.
Be with all who are fearful or angry
because of the treatment they have received
and communities struggling with poverty and inadequate services.
We pray for those who lead
that they would make wise and compassionate decisions
guided by principle rather than political expediency.
May we keep loving our neighbours – all our neighbours –
even when that is costly or unpopular
and be agents of your healing, and peace, and hope.
Amen.
Take action: Stand with Refugees
At a time when we are witnessing increasing anti-migrant sentiment in some local communities and in politics, let’s show that not only are refugees welcome here, but that our communities stand wholeheartedly together. Join the campaign focused on the first weekend of December (5-7 December), in which individuals, groups and organisations are invited to join in with creating public displays of orange hearts – a symbol of compassion for people fleeing war and persecution – in thousands of different ways in local communities.
Image: Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary/Home Office/CC By 4.0/Fickr.