Archbishop of York slams EU nations for ‘shunting’ migrants towards ‘soft touch’ Britain
John Sentamu blasts EU for failing to offer homes to refugees and asylum seekers
THE Archbishop of York has accused Europe of “shunting” its migrants towards “soft touch” Britain.
John Sentamu, the Church of England’s second most senior cleric, has slammed other EU nations for failing to offer homes to refugees and asylum seekers.
He said the infamous Calais Jungle Camp only exists because the passport-free Schengen zone allows migrants from the Middle East and Africa to travel from southern Europe to northern France unchecked.
He added that it was impossible to know if some migrants were part of ISIS.
Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, Dr Sentamu said: “That camp [the Jungle] has been a creation of the Schengen countries and they ought to own up to what they’ve created.
“I think it should be that, where ever the asylum seekers arrive in that particular place, you have a responsibility for their care, their love.
“Schengen countries have not done that with the Jungle and I, for one – as much as I am sympathetic and I feel sorry for the number of people genuinely seeking asylum – I think really the issue lies with the Schengen countries and they cannot see Britain as a soft touch.”
Dr Sentamu was an asylum seeker himself when he fled Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda in 1973.
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He added: “Every nation is shunting them and shunting them and shunting them in the hope that they will end up in the UK.
“I just hope that the Schengen countries can resolve it because it is their free movement of people.
“Britain did not sign the Schengen agreement.”
He asked how the government knew that among, “ten asylum seekers, going from Libya, from Iraq, from Syria” there isn’t “one or two members of IS”.
Dr Sentamu praised David Cameron’s policy of putting aid into the Middle East to help refugees stay in their home countries.
He suggested Britain should police the Libyan coast to catch people smugglers.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP for North East Somerset, told the Daily Mail: “As befits an Archbishop, he has spoken up about an awkward truth.
“The Schengen states would be wise to listen.”
