The bishops are right – Britain must offer refuge to Iraqis fleeing Isis
Andrew Brown
The Church of England has embarked on a rather noble and doomed attempt to pressure the government into admitting refugees from the catastrophe in Iraq. This isn’t very organised but it doesn’t need to be. Almost all the bishops and even the clergy who take an interest in government policy think we should be doing something about the Christian and Yazidi victims of the advance of Islamic State (Isis). The latest manifestation was a letter from Nick Baines, the bishop of Leeds, to David Cameron, written with the knowledge and approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
Baines wrote that “there has been increasing silence about the plight of tens of thousands of Christians who have been displaced, driven from cities and homelands, and who face a bleak future. Despite appalling persecution, they seem to have fallen from consciousness, and I wonder why. Does your government have a coherent response to … these huge numbers of Christians whose plight appears to be less regarded than that of others?”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/19/bishops-britain-refuge-iraqis-isis