Archbishop of Canterbury: UK migration bill is morally wrong

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The head of the Church of England has made a rare intervention in Parliament to condemn the British government’s controversial migration bill, calling the policy “isolationist, morally unacceptable and politically impractical.” Addressing the House of Lords, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, condemned the Illegal Migration Bill as a “short-term fix” that risks great damage to the U.K.‘s reputation. The legislation bars asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compels officials to detain and then deport migrants “to their home country or a safe third country.” They would be banned from ever re-entering the U.K. Welby said it is not right for the U.K. to let other countries — often much poorer ones —take the burden of accommodating refugees.