UK Border Agency – part 3

In the run up to Christmas the UK Border Agency produced an offensive Christmas e-card which rightly drew heavy criticism. The e-card is just one example of how the UKBA operates and the mind set which seems to determine its activities. Yesterday The Independent published a harrowing account of the impact of the UKBA’s actions on the young children of asylum seekers. Written by Paul Vallely under the headline: Detaining children in Britain: No place for the innocent the story of one young family’s experience at the hands of UKBA makes for painful reading and one feels ashamed to be a citizen of the country that operates these policies. The family in the article are Coptic Christians who have fled from persecution in Egypt; ironic given that the family of Jesus fled to Egypt to escape persecution following his birth. David Keen has posted UK Border Agency: Invasion of the Baby-Snatchers a helpful summary of Vallely’s article.

Asylum and Immigration are likely to be key topics in the General Election this year and there are important and difficult issues to be grappled with. As Christians we need to pray that the policies pursued by our elected representatives uphold the values and priorities of the Kingdom of God. As I reflect on Vallely’s article I am reminded of Deuteronomy 10:19.

You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.