Christians fleeing Islamic State and other terror groups must be given priority for asylum in Europe, according to the Bishop of Coventry.
Bishop Cocksworth told the Sunday Express: “Christians made up a quarter of the Middle East’s population 100 years ago, now they are less than five per cent. This is where the EU needs to act. There needs to be some sort of calibration that places these Christians at the top of the list.
“The most necessary thing is to prioritise the most vulnerable. If Christians are the most vulnerable – and there is no doubt about it that in many cases they are – then there is a case for it.
“This is a severe humanitarian crisis that puts Christians on the front line, and it is irresponsible to ignore religious affiliation.
“There is a need for the Foreign Office and all departments including Dfid to recalibrate resources for this crisis in which religion is seen as persecution used as a weapon of war.”
