The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 10th October 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government how many asylum applicants have been detained this year as a result of arriving in the UK via a third country.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about government’s asylum policy”On 6th July 2022, the House of Lords discussed charges associated with processing citizenship cases involving children. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for giving us the opportunity to hold this short debate. The matters she raises are serious and require urgent address.
Greater Manchester—the Minister knows and loves it as much as I do—is a very diverse city region. Many of those who contribute to its flourishing and growth are families whose origins lie elsewhere. The children of those families enrich the life of our schools, including the 190-plus Church schools that educate over 60,000 children every day, often in the poorest communities. While these children rejoice in the distinctive heritage of their ancestral culture, and offer its riches to us, they are being brought up to be as British as I am. They know no other home. They are not immigrants—as the noble Baroness has said, we must not confuse the asserting of citizenship with immigration—they are British. They simply need to clarify that legally.
Ideally, I would not put a price on citizenship; it is far too precious. However, if a charge has to be made, it seems invidious to pitch it at a level where over half of the revenue is pure profit. Indeed, the profit levels might set the mouths watering of some of those who notoriously have milked our public coffers through the charges they have exacted for substandard PPE equipment—but perhaps that is for another day.
Continue reading “Bishop of Manchester speaks in a debate on immigration and nationality”
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 23rd June 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice on 29 November 2021 (79500), how many surgeries have been held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre since contingency arrangements were put in place to provide access to the Detention Duty Advice Scheme.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre”
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 20th June 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of Southwark asked a question in a debate on the government’s immigration policy and deportations to Rwanda on 15th June 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, in response to the Home Office Oral Statement, we on these Benches ask if it is not immoral that those who are to be deported to Rwanda have had no chance to appeal or to reunite with family in Britain. Is it not immoral that they have had no consideration of their asylum claims, recognition of their medical or other needs, or attempts to understand their predicament, given that many are desperate people fleeing unspeakable horrors?
Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark asks a question on immigration”
The following article by the Bishop of Durham appeared in the Independent on 15th June 2022
It is a deeply regrettable moment for us as a nation that the government is pursuing a policy that intends to transport asylum seekers to another country thousands of miles away, before and without considering their claim to asylum in the UK.
We have a rich history of providing sanctuary to those around the world fleeing war and persecution, and it is intolerable to see us abdicate both our moral responsibility and commitment to international law. This week, all of the 26 bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords signed a letter voicing our alarm over the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Continue reading “‘I joined 25 Bishops in condemning plans to send refugees to Rwanda – here’s why’ – Bishop of Durham”The Bishop of Southwark asked a question during a debate on the government’s policy towards asylum seekers and deportations to Rwanda on 14th June 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, following the Minister’s opening words, I presided at a midnight mass to commemorate the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire at All Saints West Dulwich, which went on until the early hours of this morning, so I was grateful for the tribute she paid.
Bearing in mind the force of today’s letter in the Times signed by all the serving Lords spiritual, will the Minister acknowledge, contrary to what some of her colleagues have said, that the Bishops and others have offered alternatives—in particular, safe and legal routes which are unavailable to those who wish to apply from countries such as Iran, Iraq and Eritrea? Secondly, will she inform the House how removals may go ahead if the monitoring committee, set out in the memorandum of understanding to scrutinise processing, reception, accommodation and post-asylum treatment, does not exist? Finally, on the use of language, does the Minister agree that there is no such thing in law as an “illegal asylum seeker”, only an asylum seeker?
Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark asks a question about the government’s immigration policy”
14/06/2022
All of the Lords Spiritual signed a letter to The Times voicing alarm about the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. They wrote:
Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation. Rwanda is a brave country recovering from catastrophic genocide. The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries. Those to be deported to Rwanda have had no chance to appeal, or reunite with family in Britain. They have had no consideration of their asylum claim, recognition of their medical or other needs, or any attempt to understand their predicament.
Continue reading “Bishops’ letter to The Times on the Rwanda asylum removals policy”
On 7th June 2022, The Bishop of Chichester asked a question on the support available for Ukrainian students and other temporary UK residents in light of the war in Ukraine:
The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of the number of Ukrainians currently here on economic or student visas who may soon be at risk of overstaying their visa and may be unable to return home, and of the sort of support that they might require and be given?
Continue reading “Bishop of Chichester asks about support for Ukrainians residing in the UK”
The Archbishop of Canterbury received the following written answers on 24th May 2022:
The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury asked Her Majesty’s Government:
The Church of England in Parliament 
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