In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Bishop Declan Lang, chair of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales’ Conference Department of International Affairs, joined the Anglican Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan, Head of the Jewish Reform Movement Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and Co-Chair of the Christian Muslim Forum, to express his support for a joint call from CAFOD (the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales), Amnesty International, the Refugee Council, JCore and Islamic Relief for the UK to do more to help Syria’s refugees find safety here.

The letter coincided with the first anniversary (Thursday 29 January 2015) of the UK government’s announcement of a special resettlement scheme for the most vulnerable refugees from the Syrian conflict. A year on, Home Office figures show that only 90 people have been offered asylum here.

Nearly four years into the conflict, ten million people have been forced to leave their homes, nearly four million of whom have fled the country. The vast majority are living in precarious circumstances in Syria’s neighbouring countries, and many are struggling to survive in freezing temperatures.

The faith leaders say that the conflict in Syria is one of the ‘greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time’ and that neighbouring countries are at the point of collapse from the sheer numbers of refugees they are hosting.  Read more here