The Archbishop of Canterbury has once again blasted the Government’s Rwanda migrants plan, calling it “heartless.”
Justin Welby retaliated against the Home Secretary when she accused critics of the scheme of ‘inbuilt prejudice and racism.’
Mr Welby argued in a series of angry tweets this evening that the Church of England’s opposition to the offshore processing plan is “not because the destination is Rwanda.”
He wrote: ‘We would oppose such heartless treatment wherever people were sent.
‘We oppose this policy because it outsources our responsibilities, and treats vulnerable and traumatised people without any kind of dignity, compassion or justice.
‘This is not how God calls us to treat each other.’
In a third tweet, Archbishop Welby added: ‘We’ll continue to call for a humane and effective immigration system, and to offer our support to national and local government to deliver it.
‘And in parishes we’ll continue to help local communities receive asylum seekers and others arriving from overseas.’
Welby earlier slammed the policy as ‘the opposite of the nature of God’ in a punchy Easter address two months ago.
Ms Patel told The Telegraph today that the first flight’s grounding last week was ‘scandalous’ – and a reason to quit the ECHR.
She also said: ‘If it was France, if we were sending people to Sweden, New York, Sydney, would they [the critics] change their mind? That actually speaks of inbuilt prejudice and I would even go as far as to say, racism.’
In response to their resistance to the idea, government sources reportedly threatened to kick Church of England leaders out of the House of Lords.
Cabinet ministers were openly discussing ousting the 26 bishops from the House of Lords, with one remarking that Iran is the only other country having religious leaders in their parliament.
However, No. 10 quickly rejected this, with Boris Johnson’s press secretary declaring, ‘There are no plans to do that.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel proposes to send migrants who enter the UK unlawfully thousands of kilometres away to have their asylum claims evaluated under an arrangement reached with Kigali in April.
After the European Court of Human Rights denied a first flight to Rwanda last week, her plan has yet to get off the ground.
The Lords Spiritual are archbishops and bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords.
The 25 present members of the Lords Spiritual argued in a letter published in The Times this week that the Rwanda policy “should shame us as a nation.”
‘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,’ they wrote.
‘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.’
Their letter added: ‘We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, or discard international law — which protects the right to claim asylum.
‘We must end the evil trafficking; many churches are involved in fighting it. This needs global co-operation across every level of society.
‘To reduce dangerous journeys to the UK we need safe routes: the church will continue to advocate for them.
‘But deportations — and the potential forced return of asylum seekers to their home countries — are not the
way. This immoral policy shames Britain.’