Faith leaders encourage Home Secretary to resume transfers of children from Calais

Nearly 200 faith leaders, as well as Lord Alf Dubs, have today called on Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, to resume transfers of children from the Calais camps to the UK. In an open letter, they highlight the chaotic events in Calais last week, which saw many children unable to register with the authorities, forcing them to sleep rough. In addition, they state that using such methods in order to avoid creating a “pull factor” to Calais (and the UK) is “morally unacceptable”.

The faith leaders, who include seven Bishops, leading Rabbis, and the leader of the Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, say that refusing to safeguard unaccompanied children is akin to leaving a child in the road to act as a deterrent to other children.

They express concern that transfers of children from Calais to the UK have been halted, and call on Amber Rudd to “restart the rescue immediately”.

A full copy of the letter, a shortened version of which appears in today’s Times , is below.

Dear Sir,
We applaud the Home Secretary for the measures she instituted to transfer children with a legal right to reach their families and the most vulnerable from the camps in Calais to the UK. However, the scenes of the last few days stand in stark contrast to those welcome developments.
Charities such as Citizens UK, Save the Children and Help Refugees, report that as many as 50 unaccompanied children who had been unable to register their claims with camp authorities in the rush of the demolition, being driven off into the cold night as the “Jungle” burned.

The argument that such a tough approach was needed to prevent a pull factor is morally unacceptable. One does not leave a child playing in the road to deter other children from similar behaviour.

There is no need for a child to be in the road to begin with, as systems should always have been operational in Greece and Italy so that children with a legal right to relocate to the UK never need try to reach Calais in the first place.
We have heard that these urgent humanitarian transfers of children have for the moment been suspended. We call on the UK authorities to restart the rescue immediately. The Home Secretary's efforts to transfer these children stand in the best of our traditions, and they must continue.
The French have now been very clear, upwards of 1,000 minors are eligible for transfer to the UK. We can allow no administrative, bureaucratic or political barrier to stand between these children and the care and protection they are entitled to.
This is less than 10% the total population of the camp, less than that of a medium sized secondary school. The vast majority of people in the camps should claim asylum in France but we should surely hold ourselves to blame if any more children eligible for transfer go missing in the process.
Will the Home Secretary restart the rescue and see every one of these minors protected?

Yours faithfully

Lord Alf Dubs

Commissioner Clive Adams, Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in United Kingdom and Ireland

the Right Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham
the Right Rev Jonathan Clark, Bishop of Croydon
the Right Rev Peter Hill, Bishop of Barking
the Rt Revd Adrian Newman, The Bishop of Stepney
the Right Rev David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
the Right Rev Trevor Wilmot, Bishop of Dover
the Right Rev David Hamid, Diocese in Europe

Cantor Gershon Silins MSM, DM
Cantor Zoe Jacobs
Rabbi Aaron Goldstein
Rabbi Alexandra Wright, Liberal Jewish Synagogue
Rabbi Amanda Golby
Rabbi Ariel Friedlander
Rabbi Charley Baginsky
Rabbi Colin Eimer
Rabbi Daniel Smith
Rabbi Daniela Thau
Rabbi Danny Rich, Senior Rabbi & Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism
Rabbi David L Freeman
Rabbi Helen Freeman
Rabbi David Mitchell
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers
Rabbi Deborah Kahn-Harris
Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo
Rabbi Dr Reuven Silverman
Rabbi Dr Robert Ash
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz, MSc, MA
Rabbi Harry Jacobi, MBE Vice-president of Liberal Judaism
Rabbi Howard Cooper
Rabbi Jacqueline Tabick.
Rabbi Janet Darley
Rabbi Jeffrey Newman
Rabbi Michael Pertz
Rabbi Dr Thomas Salamon
Rabbi Fabian Sborovsky
Rabbi Judith Levitt
Rabbi Kate Briggs
Rabbi Laura Janner- Klausner, Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism
Rabbi Margaret Jacobi
Rabbi Mark Goldsmith
Rabbi Mark L Solomon
Rabbi Maurice Michaels
Rabbi Michael Hilton
Rabbi Pete Tobias
Rabbi Professor Tony Bayfield CBE
Rabbi Barbara Borts
Rabbi Rebecca Birk
Rabbi Richard Jacobi
Rabbi Roderick Young
Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild
Rabbi Tony Hammond

Rev'd Andrew Dart
Rev Andrew Simpkins, Dickens Heath Church
Rev David Kerrigan, Director, BMS World Mission

Rev Lynn Green, General Secretary Baptist Union of Great Britain
Rev David Kerrigan, Director, BMS World Mission

Bishop Mike Royal, Pentecostal Bishop, Apostolic Pastoral Congress
Cllr Revd Andy Fitchet, Whitchurch Baptist Church
Rev Adam Eakins Broadmead Baptist Church, Northampton
Rev Alison Boulton, Regional Minister, Southern Counties Baptist Association & Stowe at Wichelstowe Baptist Church
Rev Alison J Griffiths, Lydney Baptist Church
Rev Alison Mackay Regional Minister, Heart of England Baptist Association
Rev Alison Overton, Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth
Rev Andrew Picton, Avenue Baptist Church
Rev Andrew Waugh, Stockton Baptist Tabernacle
Rev Andy Glover, Hoole Baptist Church, Chester
Rev Andy Goodliff, Belle Vue Baptist Church
Rev Angie Tunstall, Eccles, Salford
Rev Anna Spiegel, Blenheim Baptist Church & University Chaplain, Leeds University & Leeds Beckett
Rev Anthony Crawford, Leyland Baptist Church
Rev Anthony Gill, Director, Nationwide Christian Trust, Essex
Rev Barney Barron, Havant
Rev Bill Dixon
Rev Bill Longley, Waterlooville Baptist Church
Rev Bob Almond, United Church Ferndown
Rev Bruce Daniels, Somersham Baptist Church
Rev Canon Mark Oxbrow, International Director, Faith2Share
Rev Carmel Murphy, Urban Expression, Cobridge, Stoke
Rev Cassius Francis, Wesleyan Holiness Church, Wolverhampton
Rev Cham Kaur-Mann, Next Leadership
Rev Charlie Ingram - Bessels Green Baptist Church, Sevenoaks, Kent
Rev Chris Upton
Rev Daniel Dupree, BMS World Mission
Rev Darren Pike, Eastwood Baptist Church
Rev Dave Tubby, Northfield Baptist Church
Rev David Betts, Hospital Chaplain, Northampton
Rev David Ellis, Regional Minister, Heart of England Baptist Association
Rev David Fleming, Limbury Baptist Church, Luton
Rev David Lewis, Stantonbury Ecumenical Parternship, Milton Keynes
Rev David R Mayne, Moderator, Baptist Union Council & Shoeburyness & Thorpe Bay Baptist Church
Rev David Musgrave
Rev David Steel, One Church Brighton
Rev Dawn Cole-Savidge, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London
Rev Doug Hollidge
Rev Dr Clare McBeath, Co-Principal, Northern Baptist College
Rev Dr Craig Gardiner,Tutor, South Wales Baptist College, Cardiff
Rev Dr Dan Pratt, 57 West, Southend-on-Sea
Rev Dr David Coffey OBE, Global Ambassador BMS World Mission
Rev Dr Edward Pillar, Evesham Baptist Church
Rev Dr Ian Stackhouse, Millmead Baptist Church
Rev Dr Kate Coleman, Next Leadership
Rev Dr Malcolm Patten, Blackhorse Road Baptist Church
Rev Dr Philip Clements-Jewery
Rev Dr Richard Kidd, Honorary Research Fellow & Theologian, Luther King House, Manchester
Rev Dr Rosa Hunt, Salem Chapel Tonteg, Pontypridd
Rev Dr Rosemary Kidd
Rev Dr Ruth Gouldbourne, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
Rev Dr Sally Nelson, Baptist Tutor at St Barnabas Theological Centre, Sheffield
Rev Dr Simon Woodman, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
Rev Dr Stephen R. Holmes, Head of School of Divinity, University of St Andrews
Rev Elizabeth Squires, Pennar Community Church, Pembroke Dock
Rev Gareth Garland, Rickmansworth Baptist Church
Rev Geoffrey Colmer, Regional Minister, Central Baptist Association
Rev Glen Marshall, Co-Principal, Northern Baptist College
Rev Graeme Ross, Orchard Baptist Church, Colchester
Rev Graham Banks, Queen’s Road Baptist Church, Coventry
Rev Grenville Overton, Regional Minister Team Leader, Southern Counties Baptist Association
Rev Helene Grant, Christchurch, Nailsworth
Rev Howard Jones, Urban Expression, Cobridge, Stoke
Rev Ian Fowler, Bourton Baptist Church
Rev James Binney, Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking
Rev Jenni Entrican, Vice President European Baptist Federation
Rev Jenny Few
Rev Jim Kilpin, Avenue Baptist Church
Rev John Claydon, Regional Minister, Team Leader, Northern Baptist Association
Rev John Goddard, Saffron Walden Baptist Church
Rev John M Goddard, Saffron Walden Baptist Church
Rev John Rogers, Pantygwydr Baptist Church, Swansea
Rev Jon Stannard, West Leigh Baptist Church
Rev Jonathan Keyworth, Heywood Baptist Church
Rev Jonathan Somerville, Tabernacle Baptist Church Wolverhampton
Rev Joseph Haward, This Hope, Newton Abbot
Rev Julia Binney, Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking
Rev Juliet Kilpin, Urban Expression & Peaceful Borders
Rev June Love, Gunton Baptist Church, Lowestoft
Rev Keith Osmand-Smith, Madely Baptist Church
Rev Keith Parr, Maghull Baptist Church, Liverpool
Rev Linda Donaldson, Portrack Baptist Church
Rev Lindsay Caplen, South Woodham Evangelical Church
Rev Lisa Kerry, Croxley Green Baptist Church
Rev Lynsey Heslegrave, Colchester Baptist Church
Rev M Dickinson, Godalming Baptist Church
Rev Marie Holmes, Cafe Church, Havant
Rev Marilyn Webb, Purley Baptist Church
Rev Mark Massey, Frinton Free Church
Rev Martin Young, Rising Brook Church, Stafford
Rev Mary Taylor, Regional Minister, Yorkshire Baptist Association
Rev Matt Jeffrey, Lentons Lane Baptist Church, Coventry
Rev Matthew Nott, King's Community Church, Oldbury
Rev Michael Shaw, Devenport Community Baptist Church
Rev Micky Munroe, Guiseley Baptist Church
Rev Mike Fegredo, Regional Minister, East Midland Baptist Association
Rev Mike Lowe, Communications Enabler, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Rev Mike Pears, Director of Urban Life, Bristol
Rev Mike Smith, St George’s, Nailsworth
Rev Nathan Toseland, Long Buckby & Brington Baptist Church
Rev Neil Brighton, Poynton Baptist Church
Rev Neil Douglas, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Scarborough
Rev Nik Hookey, Newcastle Baptist Church
Rev Paul Hills
Rev Paul J Lavender, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Northampton
Rev Paul Lewis, Bromsgrove Baptist Church
Rev Peter Dominey, Church From Scratch, Essex
Rev Peter Spence, Warley Baptist Church
Rev Rachel Haig, Tyndale Baptist Church, Bristol
Rev Ray Gaston, St Chad & St Mark’s, Wolverhampton
Rev Richard Shorter, Church 12v3, Harold Hill
Rev Rose Uitterdijk, Urban Expression, Ellesmere Port
Rev Samuel Leach, St Albans Church, Wednesfield
Rev Sandra Crawford, Wigan Baptist Church
Rev Sandra Platford, Aldershot Baptist Church
Rev Sara Barron, Havant
Rev Sarah Crane, Chaplain, Milton Keynes Hospital
Rev Scott Williamson, Rayleigh Baptist Church
Rev Shona Shaw, Moortown Baptist Church, Leeds
Rev Simon Goddard, Regional Minister, Eastern Baptist Association
Rev Simon Hall, Chapel Allerton Baptist Church, Leeds
Rev Simon Jones, Bromley Baptist Church
Rev Simon Jones, Bromley Baptist Church
Rev Stephen Finamore, Principal, Bristol Baptist College
Rev Stephen Keyworth, Faith and Society Team Leader, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Rev Stephen Sutton Pastor at Coulby Newham Baptist Church
Rev Steve Moody, Stopsley Baptist Church
Rev Steve Tinning, Leigh Road Baptist Church
Rev Tim Fergusson, Olton Baptist Church
Rev Tim Haines, St Helens Baptist Church
Rev Tim Presswood, Transitional Regional Minister, North Western Baptist Association
Rev Trevor Neill, Yardley Wood Baptist Church
Rev William Eugster, Glendale Crossing Places Trust, Northumberland.
Rev. Mark Hirst, Battle Baptist Church