York Street Methodist Church Calls for Compassion Towards Asylum Seekers

York Street Methodist Church in Broadstairs has joined the call from three national church leaders in Britian for the government to ‘build a fair, compassionate and well-managed asylum system’.Leaders of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches issued a statement on 21 November in response to the government’s announcement on proposed changes to its asylum and returns policy.‘Public debate around migration has increasingly been shaped by voices that trade in fear, resentment, and the scapegoating of those who already carry heavy burdens,’ warned Rev Richard Andrew, President of the Methodist Conference; Rev Lynn Green, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain; and Catriona Wheeler, General Assembly Moderator of the United Reformed Church.‘We fear that the tone and content of the Home Secretary’s recent announcements on asylum policy reform risks deepening these fractures rather than healing them,’ the church leaders added in the statement.‘What threatens our social fabric is not the presence of vulnerable people seeking sanctuary, but rhetoric and policy that sets neighbour against neighbour and encourages suspicion instead of solidarity.’The statement adds that any asylum system should not seek to appease those who would divide our communities. ‘Our Christian faith compels us to hold that such a system should prioritise human dignity, and treat people as any of us would wish to be treated.’At a Church Council meeting on 29 November, York Street Methodist Church agreed to write to Thanet East MP Polly Billington endorsing the national campaign by the three churches - ‘Let us keep loving our neighbours’ - while sharing its stand with the wider community.Church Council members agreed to join the campaign after hearing a prayer:‘God of welcome, you call us to love our neighbours as ourselves and show your care for those who are most vulnerable. We hold before you today those forced to make dangerous journeys in search of safety, children separated from their families and those who have been waiting a long time for good news.’The national statement urges the government to resource the asylum well enough to make decisions swiftly so that people are not left in limbo for long periods of time; to allow asylum seekers to work, support themselves and contribute to society; and to encourage integration into local communities.Many of the government’s proposed policies would place more demands on vulnerable individuals and on the already overstretched system, the church leaders stated.‘We welcome the promise of new safe regulated routes for people to be provided with sanctuary in the UK, sponsored by individuals and communities. We have long believed this to be a far better approach to tackling dangerous channel crossings than ever more hostile policies.’