Britain ‘should take more Syrian refugees’

Church leaders have written an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for more Syrian refugees to be let into Britain, write James Macintyre and Liz Dodd.

Last month, the Government announced that it would take in 500 of the most vulnerable refugees from the war-torn country. But this week 48 church leaders including Bishop Patrick Lynch, chairman of migration policy for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said the number should be more than doubled. Their letter notes that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has identified 30,000 refugees who are particularly vulnerable and require permanent residency in European countries. The response has ranged from Norway saying it will accept 1,000 refugees to Germany offering homes to 10,000.

The letter, signed by Baptists, Methodists and United Reformed church leaders from across the country, says: “[We] would want to encourage Government to think in terms of making a contribution appropriate to the size of our country …The figure of up to 500 … seems to be a long way short of that. To be proportionate with these countries and some way above the Norway figure … would seem to represent a responsible response.”

Sarah Teather, the Catholic former Liberal Democrat minister and chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, acknowledged that settlement in Britain may not be best for most refugees but warned the Government against populism. “I think everyone acknowledges that resettlement in Britain is not necessarily the right answer for most Syrian refugees,” she told The Tablet. “But the Government also mustn’t artificially cap numbers of refugees for fear of public opinion.”