United Kingdom: Welby (Anglican primate), migration law, “isolationist, morally unacceptable and politically impracticable”

“This Bill is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical, because we cannot let the poorest countries deal with the refugee crisis alone”. With these words, in addressing the House of Lords, the Anglican primate, Justin Welby, criticised the so-called “Illegal Migration Bill”, the controversial bill of law of the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whereby those who illegally enter the United Kingdom would be expelled to Rwanda or other third countries, banned from any future attempt at entering the UK, and forbidden to apply for a British passport ever again. The new Bill was passed by the House of Commons and, these days, it is being discussed by the House of Lords, the second house of Westminster Parliament, which cannot stop it but can make it more difficult for it to be finally passed and can deeply amend it. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the theological leader of the Church of England, also pointed out that the Bill is a short-term fix that damages the international reputation of the United Kingdom. “Our interests, as a nation, are closely linked to our reputation for justice and the rule of law”, Welby went on. “Only long-term, globally-coordinated solutions that set up safe routes for people seeking asylum are the answer to the problem of illegal migration”.
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