General Election

Dear my new MP,

Congratulations on being voted in as a Member of Parliament for our local area!

I am looking forward to following your progress as you work hard for your constituents. As you begin your new term, I wanted to let you know that one of the key things I am concerned for our society is how people seeking refuge and asylum in the UK are treated upon arrival here. Immigration, and particularly people seeking refuge and asylum can often grab the headlines, and lead to a frenzy of activity and debate. We now have the opportunity to learn from what we have done well as a nation in the past and what we can do better in.

There are people in your community who care about providing a compassionate and fair welcome to people seeking refuge and asylum. As a member of (NAME OF CHURCH), in the last few years we have had the privilege of welcoming:

[ ] People from Hong Kong
[ ] People from Ukraine
[ ] People from Afghanistan
[ ] People seeking asylum
[ ] Other people from a refugee background including ____________________

We are grateful that they are here because _______________________.

We have really enjoyed learning new things from these individuals, especially _________________.

However, we have also seen some big challenges as we have helped these people to settle here and integrate. The housing crisis we face in the UK is very real and is having a big impact on many people’s lives, including refugees. Refugees struggle to access housing at affordable rents, and struggle to find meaningful employment as well.

Our experience has been _________________________________.

I am concerned about how the immigration debate - particularly for people seeking asylum - has developed in recent years. Since the last general election we have seen violent protests outside accommodation for asylum seekers across the country and we have seen an increase in fear of outsiders in communities. This is very concerning, and I hope you can commit to reducing the fear that communities have of new arrivals. We have also seen the UK seek to reduce its responsibility to protect people seeking asylum. I am very concerned about this, and want you to know that, as a Christian, I strongly believe that we have a responsibility to care for and protect people who seek asylum here.

As my new MP, I hope you can work to:

• Increasing welcome and safety in our community, for people of all backgrounds, where fear and hostility doesn’t have a place

• Celebrate the religious freedom we have in the UK to follow the religion of our choice, this includes offering protection to people who have changed their religion and are at risk of persecution

• Protect the universal human right to seek asylum, and celebrate the ways the UK protects this right

I wish you all the best as my MP. I hope we can work together as a local community to ensure that our area continues to be a welcoming, safe place to live for everyone who arrives here.

Kind regards,
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