The events of February 5th in Morecambe Bay,
where 19 Chinese cocklers were drowned, once again
brought the issue of criminal exploitation of immigrants
on to the front pages of the national and local press.

The Brutality of Asylum
Anne Slater is part of the T.H.O.M.A.S. Team.

In June 2000, 58 Chinese died of suffocation in a lorry as they were being smuggled into Britain. For this crime a 33 year old driver from Rotterdam was sentenced to 11 year in jail. He was told by the judge that he ‘demonstrated cynical exploitation’. Along with him a Chinese female was sentenced to 6 years for conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into Britain.

It’s a poignant thought that the people who died were coming to what they believed was a place of safety – a sanctuary. The word sanctuary – derived from the Latin word sanctuarium – sanctus – meaning sacred, was the name given to a holy place – a place of refuge, usually associated with the inner part of the temple.

In Deuteronomy we are told that the Lord instructed Moses to give to the Israelites 3 cities – Bazer, Ramoth and Golan, known as the Cities of Refuge where people who had killed their neighbour ‘unaware, and hated him not in times past.’ Could live. Deuteronomy 4:41-49.

This right of Sanctuary carried on and continued through the Middle Ages, the church being seen as a place of protection for criminals until they felt assured of having a fair trial and for refugees in time of trouble and civil war. Anyone breaking the rules of the right of sanctuary by harming a refugee, especially one who was in the inner sanctum would face ex-communication or death.

When two ships carrying illegal immigrants collided in the Adriatic off the coast of Brindisi, the Pope issued a statement, condemning in no uncertain terms, the exploitation of immigrants and illegal refugee seekers. He ‘deplored in the strongest terms, the manner in which some people exploit the misery of so many poor people, for their own personal gain’. He called for measures which would allow refugees to live in dignity and to stop the ‘dishonest traffic’ of people. In his message to the world on World Refugee Day last year the Pope asked Catholics to pray for the needs of all, who for whatever reason, are far from their homes and families. It should be a day of serious reflection on our duties towards these brothers and sisters he said, because ‘it is our Christian duty to welcome whoever comes knocking out of need.’ He also encouraged us to ‘overcome the tendency to care for just fellow Christians but to reach out to others of different faiths’. He ‘deeply hoped that every Ecclesial Community, made up of migrants and refugees and those who receive them….. will untiringly engage in the construction of peace.’ I am sure that the majority of people would agree with those views, sometimes it seems though that it’s harder to put them into practise.

Last year the Rt. Rev. P. O’Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, the chairman of Office for Refugee Policy, Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, warned politicians that treating asylum seekers like ‘ a political football’ could provoke violence against refugees. He commented that Britain has a long and proud history of giving sanctuary to people fleeing persecution. Asylum seekers, he said were a symptom of ‘a tragically disordered world, victims of unjust social, economic and political structures.’

Illegal immigrants are open to any kind of exploitation and because they are ‘undocumented immigrants’ have no rights as regards labour and employment.
It is thought that several hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants work in agriculture, the construction industry, catering and the sex industry. An estimated 43% of asylum seekers in the U.K. come from countries well-known for their political instability and poor record of human rights. Most of the countries of origin do not want to take back, for various reasons, those who have failed in their applications to remain here, as they are an added burden to their resources. Also the monies that the more successful ones send back home to their families enhance the economy of that country. Though this will change under new laws which will forbid them to work until decisions have been made about their future. The term ‘economic migrant’ is also used to differentiate between illegal/political/asylum seeker. Eryl McNally M.E.P.in her report on asylum seekers in the U.K. says that ‘We should never forget that in our world, terror, wrongful imprisonment and torture are still a reality and that economic migration is a feature of the past history of most British families.’ Today there are still many families who cross the Atlantic in search of a better life. They are also ‘economic migrants’.

People smugglers – those who illegally bring in groups of people, goods, etc are in a different class to the people traffickers who not only delude people into a system of illegal working conditions, they also make profits from the work. Under the (Trafficking ) Bill 1999 ‘any person who organizes or knowingly facilitates the entry into the state of a person whom he or she knows to be an illegal immigrant will be guilty of an offence punishable on conviction on indictment to an unlimited fine or up to 10 years in prison or both’.

Geraldine Smith M.P. in June of last year warned the Home Office about the risks to migrant cocklers, working in Morecambe. In a letter to the Home Office she wrote ‘Unable to speak English and under the control of a gang master, these people were being paid 1/5 of the standard rate for their work’. She was concerned that they were being transported in a boat carrying 3 times the number of people that an experienced local fisherman would take, in waters well-known for their dangerous tides.

The Immigration Services said ‘resource issues’ were to blame for officials not being sent to help the police in Morecambe. A member of the family of one of those who died said he had paid £20,000 for his passage to England

Archbishop Patrick Kelly speaking at a memorial service for the dead called for a ‘searching, rigorous and thorough’ investigation into the tragedy. It’s what they deserve.

A community health worker who was himself a political refugee, educated and able to speak English when he arrived here said recently that as long as there are conflicts in the world and there is a division between rich and poor countries, people will flee. We should treat them with care and dignity.

Church leaders, politicians, the Press and people with consciences should campaign tirelessly to improve the immigration laws to protect the innocent. One such young Catholic woman who went to Sri Lanka to give aid was deeply moved by the ‘humanness’ behind the statistics, ‘suddenly, the refugees became flesh and blood. I realized that they …….had aspirations too. What had happened was no fault of theirs.’

To-day the concept of church as a place of safety is far removed from that of the Middle Ages. Perhaps the only people who seek sanctuary now are those who enter to pray, attend services, or to admire the architecture perhaps. But the notion of Sanctuary for the oppressed should still be at the forefront and the heart of Christian teaching. After all the Holy Family once found themselves exiled from their home when they fled to Egypt to protect their Son. The church can and should be shouting out with a loud voice in defense of the persecuted and against tyranny, so that the exploitation by ‘people-smuggling’ rings cannot carry on. If more people raised their voices in protest against this sort of exploitation then the church would truly be seen to be a sanctuary in the modern world.

Working with the marginalized people who visit the Drop-in Centre here at T.H.O.M.A.S. I often ask myself the question, ‘would I be able, with a clear conscience, to include myself in those of whom Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me meat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me." This would also have to apply to the refugees who are in our town. I’m not sure that I would feel very comfortable with having to face the truth of that. I hope that I will not be found wanting. I hope that I would be able to follow the example of Mother Teresa who taught us that ‘The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.’