The archbishop of Canterbury has proposed two amendments to the government’s flagship illegal migration bill that he had earlier deemed “morally unacceptable”.
With the controversial plans to enter the committee stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Justin Welby called on ministers to implement 10-year strategies for tackling human trafficking and for an international collaboration to solving the refugee crises.
“Jesus calls on us to welcome the stranger and seek the good of our communities,” a spokesperson for the archbishop said on Tuesday. “The bishops in the Lords will continue to speak out for those who are fleeing violence and persecution and seeking safety – and keep calling for an asylum system that reflects our values, moral responsibilities and place within the international community.”
The illegal migration bill seeks to change the law so that those who arrive in the UK without permission will not be able to stay to claim asylum but will instead be detained and removed, either to their home nation or a third country such as Rwanda. Welby has criticised the bill for not addressing the two key causes of international migration: war and the climate crisis, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimating that the climate crisis alone would lead to at least 800 million more refugees by 2050.
“[The bill] is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with it alone and cut our international aid,” he said in a speech to the upper chamber earlier in May.
Welby said the bill would not fulfil the prime minister’s pledge to “stop the boats”. Rishi Sunak has said that stopping small boats crossing the Channel is one of his five key objectives as prime minister and believes the bill will help achieve the aim.
The bill passed in the Commons by 289 votes to 230 last month.
While it’s a highly unusual move for such a senior cleric to propose detailed changes to a key piece of legislation, the amendments have cross-party support and are “intended to encourage and support pragmatic, collaborative and long-term solutions to a refugee crisis that is only set to worsen due to climate change and related conflict over the coming decades”, the spokesperson said.
In addition to the two amendments, the bishops in the Lords have also tabled and supported amendments to the bill on issues of victims of modern slavery and sexual exploitation, protection for children and pregnant women, and asylum seekers’ right to work.
