Welcome the stranger: defend the right to asylum
At the heart of the Gospel is a simple truth: every person is precious, because God is present in everyone.
Welcoming people seeking safety is an integral part of our faith: it is a response to the dignity God has placed in every human life.
Today, people seeking asylum in the UK are facing laws and policies that deny their dignity. Families are kept apart. People are forced into poverty and isolation. Many live in fear, unable to rebuild their lives even after being recognised as refugees.
As Christians, we cannot accept a system that treats people as problems to be managed rather than neighbours to be welcomed. Together, we can build a society that welcomes, protects, and stands alongside people seeking safety.
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35)
Why this matters
Refugees are forced to flee their homes because of war, persecution, and violence: not by choice, but to protect their lives.
When people arrive in the UK seeking protection, many encounter further harm:
- Barriers that prevent people from having their asylum claims heard fairly
- Policies that punish people for how they travel, even when no safe routes exist
- A system that forces people to live in limbo for years, unable to work or plan for the future
- Detention and homelessness that undermine human dignity and fracture communities
This is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices: and political choices can change.
With increasingly hostile policies and rhetoric undermining the ability of refugees to rebuild their lives, urgent action is needed now.
Catholic Social Teaching reminds us that every person is made in the image of God, and that solidarity does not stop at borders. In fact, CST takes a broader view of who needs protection than the 1951 Refugee Convention, setting out clearly how we have a responsibility to all who are forced to leave their homes – whether because of persecution, war, poverty, climate crisis, and injustice.
That’s why, as Christians, we’re standing together this summer – through prayer, public witness, and advocacy – to defend the right to asylum.
“Any person in danger who appears at the frontier has a right to protection… Each country has the responsibility to respect the rights of refugees and assure that they are respected as much as the rights of its own citizens” (Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ Refugees: a challenge to solidarity)
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Our call
Join us in putting faith into action – and help build a society that protects people seeking sanctuary.
Together with our friends at the Caritas Social Action Network, Saint Vincent de Paul, and Christian organisations & communities across the country, we’re calling on the UK government to:
- Restore the right to asylum so that everyone seeking safety has their claim heard fairly
- Put dignity and protection at the heart of the asylum system, allowing people to live, work, and rebuild their lives in community
- End immigration detention and support people through their asylum claims in the community
Read more about our campaign asks
These asks are about the kind of society we want to be: one rooted in compassion, justice, and solidarity.
“the communities that welcome [migrants and refugees] can… be a living witness to hope, one that is understood as the promise of a present and a future where the dignity of all as children of God is recognised” – Pope Leo XIV, World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2025
Send a postcard to the Prime Minister
Send a postcard to the Prime Minister asking to restore the right to asylum, end immigration detention, and put dignity and protection at the heart of the asylum system.
Get your community involved in defending the right to asylum
Share our campaign resource with your church, friends, and family, explaining why it matters to help refugees and asylum seekers.
You could also put up a poster to encourage others to take part in this campaign.
Pray with refugees
Hold a prayer vigil or include prayers for refugees and people seeking asylum in your services. Use Scripture to reflect on welcome, neighbourliness, and God’s call to justice.
Campaign resource
As Christians, we are called to love refugees and people seeking asylum as our neighbours, and to welcome, protect, promote and integrate them. Yet increasingly, refugees are under attack. Anti-refugee laws mean they face more and more difficulty getting the protection they badly need and are subjected to huge hostility and cut off from our communities. As Christians, we are saying this needs to change, now.
We have 3 simple asks inspired by our faith. This resource sets out our asks & why welcoming the refugee is a part of Catholic Social Teaching.
Poster
Put up a poster in your parish or community to advertise involvement with the campaign!
Postcards to the PM
All of us deserve to live in safety and dignity. And, if we were ever forced from our homes, we would want the opportunity to rebuild our lives safely elsewhere. Join us in writing to the Prime Minister to make it clear that as Christians, we stand with refugees.
Learn and share
Hold an event in your church or parish to raise awareness of the situation facing refugees.
You can also help build a culture of welcome by sharing this campaign on social media.
Celebrate Refugee Week
Join JRS UK for our Refugee Week performance of Faith and Hope, our adaption of Odon von Horvath’s 1932 play Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Or… if you’re further afield, see what events are happening near you!
Support this campaign
“Anyone who needs me, and whom I can help, is my neighbour.” – Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est
