Migrant deportation an "immoral policy that shames Britain," say bishops

Protest at a detention centre / Care4Calais

Source: Church of England

The senior leadership of the Church of England has denounced plans to deport migrants to Rwanda as an "immoral policy that shames Britain".

The archbishops of Canterbury and York and the other 23 bishops that sit in the House of Lords have written a letter to The Times to be published on Tuesday 14 June, when the first flight is scheduled to leave Britain for Rwanda.

The letter says: "Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation." It adds that, "our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries."

The letter, signed by the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, as archbishops of Canterbury and York, and also by the bishops of London, Durham, Exeter, Birmingham and Manchester, warns that those being deported have not had a chance to appeal or to see family in Britain. No attempt has been made to understand their predicament, it adds.

"They are the vulnerable that the Old Testament calls us to value," it adds, explaining that "evil trafficking" must be combatted by providing safe routes to the UK to "reduce dangerous journeys".

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