Figures from across the UK’s Christian community have condemned government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as ministers insisted the first flights will go ahead this week despite legal challenges.
The senior leadership of the Church of England today stated the deportation policy “should shame us as a nation” in a letter to The Times. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell and the other 23 bishops that sit as Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords called for the controversial policy to be dropped, identifying the refugees targeted by the plan as “people Jesus had in mind as he said when we offer hospitality to a stranger, we do it for him”. Refugees are, the bishops said, “the vulnerable that the Old Testament calls us to value”.
The letter follows comments critical of the proposed deportations by the Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, William Nolan. Nolan, speaking outside of the Dungavel detention facility, called the flights “an offence against human dignity and against all the best traditions of welcome of this country”. He explicitly cited recent reported remarks by the Prince of Wales, saying that he “shared” the “revulsion at the news” which represents, he said, “a new low in the UK’s recent policy of creating a hostile environment for people arriving in this country”.
Nolan’s statement came shortly after the papal nuncio to the UK, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, visited Napier Barracks in Kent, used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers since 2020. Archbishop Gugerotti brought a framed blessing from the Pope to the Barracks. The Pope had given him a special instruction after his previous visit, he reported. “The Pope said, ‘Now go back to the barracks and just convey to these people my blessing – the special blessing that I have sent to you for them.” The nuncio has regularly expressed concern about the treatment of asylum seekers since his appointment to London in 2020, and in March met the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to discuss the plight of Ukrainian refugees. Napier Barracks itself has been heavily criticised by the courts, campaign groups and former inmates, who have claimed facilities there are “unfit for human habitation”.
The first deportation flights to Rwanda are due to take place this week despite legal challenge and vehement opposition from campaigners, charities and civil society. In a statement, the Catholic charity, Jesuit Refugee Service UK, said that the government’s plan shows a “craven disregard for humanity and dignity”. “They do this,” the group added, “in the face of horrifying evidence that offshore processing fosters human rights abuses.” Last year alone, more than 28,000 people made the channel crossing to the UK. Several dozen have died in the process, including 27 in November when a boat capsized, leaving the passengers adrift. More than 10,000 people have made the same crossing so far this year.
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