The Roman Catholic Church has condemned the British Government as un-Christian over its rejection of rescue missions for refugees drowning in the Mediterranean.
Bishop Patrick Lynch, who speaks for the Church in England and Wales on migration, said the decision not to support a rescue missions was “a misguided abdication of responsibility” to thousands of desperate people feeling war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa.
He said that as Europe’s “leading naval power” the UK has a moral responsibility to step in to save those risking death attempting to reach Europe.
His remarks came as the Home Office reiterated its stance that search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, where around 3,000 migrants are estimated to have drowned this year alone, were simply acting as a “pull factor for illegal migration”.
It claims that rescuing migrants has led to more deaths. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, October 30, 2014
