Speaking on behalf of The Baptist Church, The Methodist Church and The URC, the Rev Dr Rosemary Kidd says: "Genuine asylum seekers are frequently escaping from persecution and torture. They often arrive in the UK, speaking no English and with no identifying documents. They are vulnerable, deeply traumatised people, seeking sanctuary and human kindness.
"There are inevitably some ‘false' claimants who should, of course, be efficiently identified through proper legal processes, and then deported to their country of origin. The view of the Joint Public Issues Team, however, is twofold - and quite the reverse of the concerns of Mr Woolas.
"Firstly, the asylum appeals system places these already abused people under further intense suspicion, and the onus is on the individual to explain his or her circumstances under repeated investigation. Secondly, the recent introduction of the Immigration Points System is likely to make it increasingly hard for genuine asylum seekers to enter the UK legally, and thus to claim sanctuary within these shores at all.
"The Joint Public Issues Team calls on the minister to ensure that all claimants are treated with dignity at every stage of the asylum process, and to ensure that people who have already suffered greatly in their country of origin are not further damaged by unsympathetic treatment or rejection by the UK."