Churches will be able to sponsor refugees to enter the UK, under new ‘Canada-style’ migration plans announced by the government.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the sponsorship route to asylum is designed to help “genuine refugees”.
"Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution," she said. "But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse."
Under the proposals, churches, universities and community groups that choose to sponsor a refugee would be responsible for supporting them to find housing and work.
The government would work alongside the UN High Commission on Refugees to conduct background checks on individuals, before they can enter the country.
Dr Krish Kandiah OBE, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation, has been part of the focus group consulted by the Home Affairs Committee. He told Premier Christian News that the plans are a “fantastic idea”.
“This isn't the government forcing people to take refugees in asylum hotels, wherever [the government] wants. This is about local people making local decisions to help a global problem.”
“It might be your local church has a connection, maybe through your missionary, and recognises there's someone facing extreme persecution,” he explained. “Wouldn't it be amazing if we, as churches, could say ‘we want to help’, and one of the best ways we might be able to help them is to come out of the country, rebuild their lives in our communities with our support. So, it's a fantastic opportunity.”
The plans have been criticised by Reform UK, with Zia Yusuf saying his party would "reverse" the plans.
"We are putting Andy Burnham on notice," Yusuf stated.
However, Kandiah hopes that by opening more safe and legal routes to migration, dangerous small boat crossings - which have been criticised by Reform - will be minimised.
"Refugees are damned if they do and damned if they don't," he told Premier. "People are upset if they claim benefits, but if they get jobs [under the new scheme], people get upset and say they are taking jobs."
He alleged that the current government has "made things more difficult" for refugees with its previous asylum laws, but discouraged the next Prime Minister from "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" and totally undoing the progress of this legislation.
"In the middle of some very harsh reforms is this brilliant scheme," he said. "It will actually allow us to help loads and loads of people."