Church issues a demand for refugee aid

THE SOCIAL action arm of the Bishops’ Conference has said that urgent steps must be taken to help refugees facing winter in the “Jungle” shantytown in Calais.

Speaking after a visit to the camp, CSAN (Catholic Social Action Network) and its French counterpart, Secours Catholique, called for the immediate convention of talks between the UK and French governments, the expansion of safe and legal pathways to the UK and the creation of a fair and just asylum system.

CSAN chief executive Helen O’Brien, part of the delegation that visited the settlement last Thursday, said that the Calais refugees welcomed them warmly and with dignity.

“It was a real place of contrast – community and welcome, and desperation at the same time,” she said.

Ms O’Brien, who is due to retire in November aged 64, criticised aspects of the current asylum system, such as the indefinite detention of migrants.

“I’m not sure we’re putting the human dignity of the person at the heart of this,” she said.

 CSAN is working with the bishops’ conference to identify empty properties in England that could be used to shelter refugees from Syria. This week Cardinal Vincent Nichols said the UK must provide a more generous response and offer to take more than the 20,000 refugees it has agreed to support.