Dr Phuoc-Tan Diep (c) Louise Van der Merwe

Church and Advocacy

Working with asylum seekers proved to be a watershed for Dave Smith in terms of his attitude to campaigning.

"I was fairly non political until this issue came up for me," he says.

"I then realised that Christians need to be political beings as well as spiritual ones. Someone should not be able to differentiate between the two - Jesus was very political and challenged the rulers of his time."

For Dave and the Boaz Trust, this has meant promoting justice for asylum seekers & refugees and campaigning for changes in asylum legislation to make it easier for asylum seekers to get legal aid.

The Evangelical Alliance has met with numerous organisations working with asylum seekers, and in 2007 compiled a report using evidence from translators, pastors, asylum seekers and transcripts of asylum interviews and legal appeals.

Alltogether for asylum justice highlights the difficulties faced by people claiming asylum on religious grounds. It says that a lack of understanding of conversion, translation problems and ludicrous questioning by Home Office staff or the judiciary has led to asylum seekers being refused asylum from dangerous home countries.

The report includes advice for church leaders asked to give evidence of asylum seekers' religious faith and gives guidance for MPs and their case workers to give them a better understanding of asylum claims on religious grounds.

The Reverend David de Verny, a former Church of England chaplain to migrant workers in Boston, Lincolnshire, believes passionately that Christians must take action on injustice.

"We need to ensure that people are treated equally and that we foster a diverse society," he says.

"I do this as a priest and as a Christian and I expect all other Christians to do the same."

He is particularly incensed at the poor wages being earned by migrant workers, pickers or packers who work to provide cheap food for the public.

"We accept all of this because we live cheaply off it," he says. "We don't want to know because it will disturb our way of life and our way of thinking and we don't want that. We are lethargic.

"We need more people to go out and work with migrant workers. They need champions. We don't have any national, well known figures that speak out on behalf of migrant workers.

"And that is where I think the churches must lead, otherwise we betray Jesus."