Advent call to support UK asylum seekers
-27/11/05
As criticism of the UK governmentís
Advent call to support UK asylum seekers
-27/11/05
As criticism of the UK governmentís hard-line policy to restrict the entry and rights of asylum seekers and refugees continues among human rights groups, a leading Christian organisation has launched an Advent campaign for change.
As part of the initiative, which began today, Christians and others are being urged to take on the life-experience of someone who has been refused asylum.
The challenge is part of Church Action on Poverty’s (CAP) Living Ghost’s campaign to focus on unjust government policies that make people seeking asylum destitute.
CAP is asking better-off people to identify with the experience of UK poverty through the eyes of someone fleeing from persecution, violence or the threat of death.
The idea follows on from the agency’s successful initiative in urging supporters to try to live on the national minimum wage during the season of Lent.
The latest scheme is scheduled for the first week of Advent (27 November – 4 December), as Christians prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ, and remember that Jesus too was an asylum seeker according to New Testament accounts.
Church organisations in Britain and Ireland have made asylum issues a particular concern, highlighting the biblical mandate to welcome and care for the stranger.
CTBI, the official ecumenical body, earlier this year published guidelines for those offering sanctuary. The World Council of Churches has made representations to the UN and national governments.
To mark World Refugee Day, Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world’s Catholics, called for a more Jesus-centred view of asylum seekers.
The CAP minimum wage challenge was taken up by some well-know figures, and not just Christians. Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee, who is a militant secularist, highlighted the campaign and the plight of those trapped in a low wage economy she called “scandalous”.
Participants in the asylum scheme are being asked to live on just £5 and a food parcel for a week. “We know this will be very difficult – but it well help you, your friends and anyone you tell, to know how degrading destitution is” a statement from CAP said.
CAP has also produced some resources which accompany the initiative, including a campaign Pack with details of the advent endurance challenge, ideas for lobbying MPs, resources for reflection and background material.
The Church Action on Poverty scheme is called Living Ghosts. It is supported by the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice of CTBI, the Churches’ Refugee Network, Jesuit Refugee Service and the National Catholic Refugee Forum.
[Also on Ekklesia: Christians challenged to live as asylum seekers; Churches attack global mistreatment of migrants and asylum seekers; UK faces protests over Zimbabwe asylum deportations; Christian leaders issue election challenge on asylum; Asylum victims attacked, destitute and vilified say reports; Christian Tory candidate doctored asylum photos; Calls for enquiry into tragic death of African church asylum seeker; Methodist add warning over election treatment of asylum issue; Bishop attacks ‘xenophobic bidding war’ over asylum and refugees]
Advent call to support UK asylum seekers
-27/11/05
As criticism of the UK government’s hard-line policy to restrict the entry and rights of asylum seekers and refugees continues among human rights groups, a leading Christian organisation has launched an Advent campaign for change.
As part of the initiative, which began today, Christians and others are being urged to take on the life-experience of someone who has been refused asylum.
The challenge is part of Church Action on Poverty’s (CAP) Living Ghost’s campaign to focus on unjust government policies that make people seeking asylum destitute.
CAP is asking better-off people to identify with the experience of UK poverty through the eyes of someone fleeing from persecution, violence or the threat of death.
The idea follows on from the agency’s successful initiative in urging supporters to try to live on the national minimum wage during the season of Lent.
The latest scheme is scheduled for the first week of Advent (27 November – 4 December), as Christians prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ, and remember that Jesus too was an asylum seeker according to New Testament accounts.
Church organisations in Britain and Ireland have made asylum issues a particular concern, highlighting the biblical mandate to welcome and care for the stranger.
CTBI, the official ecumenical body, earlier this year published guidelines for those offering sanctuary. The World Council of Churches has made representations to the UN and national governments.
To mark World Refugee Day, Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world’s Catholics, called for a more Jesus-centred view of asylum seekers.
The CAP minimum wage challenge was taken up by some well-know figures, and not just Christians. Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee, who is a militant secularist, highlighted the campaign and the plight of those trapped in a low wage economy she called “scandalous”.
Participants in the asylum scheme are being asked to live on just £5 and a food parcel for a week. “We know this will be very difficult – but it well help you, your friends and anyone you tell, to know how degrading destitution is” a statement from CAP said.
CAP has also produced some resources which accompany the initiative, including a campaign Pack with details of the advent endurance challenge, ideas for lobbying MPs, resources for reflection and background material.
The Church Action on Poverty scheme is called Living Ghosts. It is supported by the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice of CTBI, the Churches’ Refugee Network, Jesuit Refugee Service and the National Catholic Refugee Forum.
[Also on Ekklesia: Christians challenged to live as asylum seekers; Churches attack global mistreatment of migrants and asylum seekers; UK faces protests over Zimbabwe asylum deportations; Christian leaders issue election challenge on asylum; Asylum victims attacked, destitute and vilified say reports; Christian Tory candidate doctored asylum photos; Calls for enquiry into tragic death of African church asylum seeker; Methodist add warning over election treatment of asylum issue; Bishop attacks ‘xenophobic bidding war’ over asylum and refugees]