Anglican and Catholic churches call for 1200 more refugees

Monday, 7 September 2015

Leaders of New Zealand's Catholic and Anglican churches say they have the resources to take in 300 Syrian refugee families as the crisis in Europe escalates.

The church's call comes as Prime Minister John Key moves to seek approval from Cabinet to open the borders and resettle more asylum seekers.

Key will announce more details at a press conference this afternoon but said the emergency intake will be in the hundreds, on top of the current quota of 750 and it will occur over a period of three years.

At a press conference this morning Cardinal John Dew of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop Philip Richardson of the Anglican Church said the response was part of a global outpouring of compassion to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.

Dew said the sentiment was the same as that expressed by Pope Francis who today called on Europe's Catholics to shelter refugees.

'The escalating number of refugees globally constitutes a crisis which no nation committed to human rights can ignore. We urge the Government to think deeply about how New Zealand might provide a response which reflect the generosity of New Zealanders,' Dew said.

Dew said between both churches 300 families of four – 1200 people – could be sheltered and would rely on extensive community and church resources including school and employment networks.

Although they agreed the Government faced a raft of complex issues both leaders were confident the country could handle more than 1000 refugees. 

Richardson said New Zealand had a long history of resettling refugees citing the Polish who came here after World War II and Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s.

Both Auckland and Christchurch's diocese voted to support a much larger quota of refugees at the weekend.

'This underscores our optimism we can support a larger number of refugees,' Richardson said.