Anglican Communion News Service

The announcement that the government will not create a centre for asylum seekers at HMS Daedalus should not obscure the daily hardship faced by refugees and asylum seekers, a church leader said today.

The Revd Nick Ralph, social responsibility adviser for the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth, urged those who opposed government plans to house 400 asylum seekers at a centre near Lee-on-the-Solent to direct their energies now at helping refugees and asylum seekers already within our communities.

Mr Ralph is also chairman of Portsmouth Area Refugee Support, an organisation that helps asylum seekers and refugees access services that they are entitled to, and hands out basic provisions such as food and clothes to those in need. He was speaking after the Home Office announced that it would not seek planning approval to turn Ministry of Defence land at HMS Daedalus into an accommodation centre.

"While the government's decision on HMS Daedalus will be welcomed in some quarters, it should also serve as a reminder of the difficult plight of asylum seekers and refugees which continues to be a cause for concern in this country," he said. "We all, in our own communities, wherever they are, have a responsibility to uphold the rights and dignity of those who live on the margins of our society.

"Housing support and access to legal services are a basic human right, not just for us but for asylum seekers and refugees as well, and are a cause for major concern, especially in the light of recent and proposed changes in legislation. Those things which relieve their needs and treat asylum seekers with dignity and fairness need to be welcomed and encouraged.

"Underlying this issue is the whole way we treat people who come here seeking asylum. It would be a great credit to those who had concerns about the location of this particular asylum centre at HMS Daedalus if they were now to find ways of supporting these and other vulnerable people and re-building relations with minorities."

The Anglican diocese of Portsmouth includes 142 parishes covering south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, stretching from Bramshott in the north to Ventnor in the south, and from Botley in the west to Emsworth in the east.