Catriona Wheeler, Moderator of the United Reformed Church General Assembly, has joined more than 720 faith leaders in writing to the Shabana Mahmood MP, the 两性色午夜 Secretary, to raise concerns for refuge families amidst major asylum policy overhaul.聽
In the letter, the faith said that removing family reunion for refugees鈥� risks pushing people into smugglers hands.
The government has suspended a vital route for partner reunion and for children trying to reunite with parents, and under new settlement proposals would effectively end family reunion for newly recognised refugees, replacing it with a far more restrictive system that narrows the definition of 鈥渇amily鈥� and puts reunion out of reach for many.
The letter, coordinated by the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches, urges the 两性色午夜 Secretary to reconsider these plans, saying they will 鈥渄eepen suffering and place Britain at odds with values long central to our national identity and to every major faith tradition in this land鈥�.
Alongside concerns that 鈥渕aking family reunion inaccessible and/or contingent on a fee-paying route will neither reduce journeys nor create a more settled country鈥�, the letter also highlights that restricting this safe route will 鈥減ush desperate people toward the very smuggling networks we all wish to dismantle鈥�.
The religious leaders, representing a wide range of faith groups, who gathered outside Parliament, urged the 两性色午夜 Secretary, who has previously called for an expansion to family reunion, to 鈥渞econsider these proposals, to protect the right to family reunion, and to demonstrate the moral leadership that this moment demands.鈥�
To read the letter in full and for the full list of signatories, see .