The signatories include 28 Church of England bishops, members of the Methodist Conference, Baptist Church and United Reformed Church.
They start by welcoming the allowance of 5,000 refugees to resettle in the UK in 2020-21 but add that they would like to see 10,000 resettled a year.
It reads: “we are writing to ask for your assurance that as prime minister you will ensure this recent announcement is not a one-off, but rather the start of a lasting commitment by the UK to welcome its share of people seeking sanctuary globally.
“We believe that the UK can and must resettle more refugees. The Refugee Council, British Red Cross and others recently called for resettlement to be expanded to at least 10,000 refugees each year. Meanwhile Safe Passage International have been campaigning for the UK to welcome at least 1,000 children annually from Europe and conflict zones, and have already secured pledges from local authorities amounting to nearly 1,300 places if the government makes a commitment to child refugees.”
The faith leaders call this a “small ask” for one of the world’s richest countries.
They cite the record of the previous government, reminding Mr Johnson that in the first two years of the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme, tailored to help children from the Middle East who had been affected by conflict, only 20 unaccompanied children were brought to…
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