More than 300,000 asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Britain indefinitely, the Church of England General Synod has said.
The Synod, the governing body of the state religion, voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amnesty for those whose cases are still being decided on, and said all those who want to live here should be allowed to work.
It also said that a solution must be found to the "intolerable" situation of people who are refused leave to remain but cannot return to their home countries, and that children and families must no longer be detained in Immigration Removal Centres.
The Rev Ruth Worsley, a priest in the diocese of Southwell & Nottingham who tabled the motion on the subject, said: "The financial cost to our country, as well as the human cost which leaves people in limbo for years, not knowing what their future might hold, seems unconscionable.
"With the arrival of the credit crunch, the subsequent loss of jobs, the recent call for British jobs for British people, there is a danger that we become inward-looking and even xenophobic.
"But the Gospel tells us that we are not a tribal nation but a global family." Church of England General Synod Calls Asylum Seeker Amnesty >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Friday, February 2009
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