OXFORD (OSV News): The Catholic Church in Britain condemned a government-backed law allowing migrants in the country illegally to be forcibly deported to Rwanda in East Africa.
“We retain deep misgivings” about the bill “for the precedent it sets at home and for other countries in how we respond to the most vulnerable. This includes victims of modern slavery and children wrongly assessed as adults,” the Church’s lead bishop for migrants and refugees, Auxiliary Bishop Paul McAleenan of Westminster said in a joint April 23 statement with the Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, and along with leaders from Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches.
“We note with sadness and concern the rise in hostility towards those who come to these islands seeking refuge and the way treatment of the refugee and asylum seeker has been used as a political football,” the Church leaders said.
On April 23, parliament enacted the controvertial Safety of Rwanda [Asylum and Immigration] Bill, which could see the first deportations happening in July.
…for the precedent it sets at home and for other countries in how we respond to the most vulnerable. This includes victims of modern slavery and children wrongly assessed as adults
Auxiliary Bishop Paul McAleenan of Westminster
The vote, after two years of wrangling, coincided with the deaths of five people, including a child, attempting to cross the English Channel from France, with dozens of others, aboard a flimsy inflatable.
The joint statement said Britain’s Churches deplored the latest “appalling loss of life” and favoured “a system that shows compassion, justice, transparency and speed in its decisions.”
The statement said, “There may be differences between our Churches and government on the means by which our asylum system can be fair, effective and respecting of human dignity, but we do agree that borders must be managed and that vulnerable people need protection from people smugglers.”
It said, “We are disappointed that the kindness and support offered by Churches and charities to the people at the heart of this debate—those fleeing war, persecution and violence trying to find a place of safety—has been unjustly maligned by some for political reasons,” it said.
Plans to send migrants to Rwanda, unveiled in early 2022 have been bitterly criticised by human rights groups. The new law compels British courts and officials to treat Rwanda as safe, despite its rights record.
Legal challenges are expected against the deportations, which were branded a breach of the 1951 Refugee Convention by UN high commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi ,and UN high commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
We are disappointed that the kindness and support offered by Churches and charities to the people at the heart of this debate—those fleeing war, persecution and violence trying to find a place of safety—has been unjustly maligned by some for political reasons
“The new legislation marks a further step away from the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need”, Grandi said, adding,
“This situation is even more concerning given that the legislation expressly authorises the government to disregard any protective interim remedies from the European Court of Human Rights.”
In an April 23 letter to UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, co-signed by 250 organizations, Britain’s Jesuit Refugee Service said the new law was not supported by “the wider public,” and would allow children and “survivors of trafficking and modern slavery” to be summarily expelled to a country they had no connection with, despite “grave risk of harm and human rights abuses.”
The letter said, “Despite the clear ruling from the Supreme Court, the government is rewriting the facts so they can shirk our responsibilities to refugees.”
It said, “The government must listen to the people, abandon this deplorable deal with Rwanda and similar plans with other countries, and protect those who need sanctuary.”
Meanwhile in a statement separate from the Church leaders’ joint message, Bishop McAleenan said the law failed to address the urgent need for more “safe and legal routes” for asylum-seekers, adding that he hoped those who drowned in the channel on April 23 “instead of reaching a place of sanctuary” would rest in peace.
