Leicester’s bishop Martyn Snow said the recent unrest in the East Midlands city demonstrated the need for “robust strategies” to support migrant integration.
In his first address to the House of Lords during a debate on Britain’s asylum and refugee policy, he said it was “naive” to assume that “cohesive communities occur by default”.
His speech comes months after violent confrontations between Hindu and Muslim groups in the eastern areas of Leicester which made international headlines.
Dozens of people were arrested and police reinforcements were brought in to deal with the confrontations sparked during the celebrations of India’s victory over Pakistan in a cricket match played in Dubai in August.
Bishop Martyn also drew the attention of the parliamentarians to the conditions of asylum seekers accommodated in several hotels in Leicester, describing how the penniless people had to compromise their independence and freedom.
“They are not given even the most basic means of living as human beings” although they “have a roof over their heads,” the Indonesian-born bishop said.
The asylum seekers “do not have the freedom to make even small decisions like what to eat, the independence that comes from having enough money to buy essentials for oneself, or the stable connections to a community which offers a sense of belonging and support,” he said.
He went on: “At the drop of a hat, they can find themselves relocated to another part of the UK or deported forcibly, returning to a place they were so desperate to leave.”
“In denying refugees and asylum seekers their agency, dignity and their need for creativity and community, it is not only them we dehumanise, but ourselves as well,” the seventh bishop of Leicester said.
“Through kindness, compassion and the recognition of someone’s inherent dignity and worth, we can make anywhere feel like home”, he said adding it was how Britain and Leicester “have come to be home to me.”
Migrant communities’ talents, hard work and rich heritage contributed to the strength of the city, he said.
