wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury calls for tolerance in Kosovo refugee crisis

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

The Archbishop of Canterbury, has appealed for tolerance towards refugees in 
the wake of the Kosovo tragedy. Dr Carey made his call only hours after the 
announcement that Britain is to accept a first group of 120 refugees from the 
Balkans.
During a visit to an immigration centre at Gatwick Airport today (Wednesday 21 
April) he appealed for public support for genuine refugees and asylum seekers.
Dr Carey said:
"If the tragedy of Kosovo yields anything positive, I hope it may include a 
wider recognition that people still have urgent need of sanctuary and refuge, 
and that we as a caring and relatively wealthy nation, must be ready and 
willing to offer it to them.
"I hope the government will act in the full spirit of this reality. I believe 
they will deserve our strong support in doing so. I commend the steps taken so 
far."
A Lambeth Palace Spokesman said Dr Carey supported a policy of caring for 
refugees from the Kosovo crisis as close to home as possible, while offering 
assistance further afield, including in Britain, as necessary. Dioceses are 
already closely involved with the Home Office, and refugee agencies in 
earmarking possible accommodation.
While touring the privately operated Tinsley House Detention Centre at 
Gatwick, Dr Carey also referred to the government's controversial new 
Immigration and Asylum Bill. He said: "To the degree that the current system 
is not only inefficient and open to abuse and exploitations, it is bound to 
erode public confidence and support that is so vital in this field. A more 
efficient and responsive system must be in the interests of everyone.
"But efficiency must not be at the expense of the genuine needs of those 
seeking help and protection. Deter abuse of the system by all means, but do 
not impede those in desperate and genuine need of assistance. A developing 
culture of hostility and suspicion towards newcomers would do little to help 
salve the wounds of Kosovo."
Dr Carey set his call for tolerance against the background of his broadcast 
New Year message to the nation, which focussed on refugees and asylum seekers:
"It seemed to strike a chord - albeit a somewhat dissonant chord with a few. 
They even went so far as to suggest that in this day and age there could 
hardly be such a thing as a genuine refugee or asylum seeker - they were 
virtually all, it was implied, bogus - merely economic migrants, or worse, 
cynical scroungers. That is not a view I share."
Dr. Carey also referred to the powers of detention in the new government bill:
"I have no doubt that detention is a necessary power but I am equally 
convinced that it should be invoked as sparingly as possible. When it is used, 
it must be done in a manner that is fully sensitive to what may be the very 
distressing circumstances of the individual concerned.
"Because detainees are not "our" citizens it does not mean they are second 
class citizens. They have rights too, and those rights in some cases may well 
have been abused in quite traumatic and damaging ways.
"Detainees must be entitled, at the very least, to treatment equivalent to 
that afforded people charged with criminal offences, including the presumption 
of innocence. I would like to see a system in which detention has to be 
justified and tested in all cases, in which a time limit has to be specified, 
and which offers stronger commitments concerning the legal representation of 
detainees at bail hearings."
Earlier, Dr Carey took a leading part in a special service to officially open 
a new chapel at the detention centre, which can accommodate about 160 
detainees, many of whom were in the congregation.
Ends.

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