Backing for campaigner’s ‘xenophobia’ comments

REFUGEE campaigners have come out in support of a theologian who criticised comments made by a senior Conservative MP.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Dr Krish Kandiah said comments made by Tory shadow minister Robert Jenrick about asylum seekers had echoes of “xenophobia”, causing the broadcaster to later apologise.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Shadow Justice Secretary Jenrick said he was concerned by asylum seekers crossing the channel in small boats and supported peaceful protests outside asylum hotels.

He wrote: “I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with immigrant men with backward views who broke into Britain illegally, and about whom we know next to nothing.”

Speaking on the Today Programme’s Thought for the Day slot, Dr Kandiah, who is head of refugee charity the Sanctuary Foundation, condemned Jenrick’s comments.

He said: “These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia.”

He said such fears were irrational and that after “rigorous Home Office assessment” those arriving on small boats were found to be “genuinely fleeing war, persecution and famine”.

He said: “It is understandable that many people are scared about the unknown, especially if they have been told that illegality and unfairness are part of the story.

“The idea asylum seekers pose a greater risk to our children than those already within our communities isn’t supported by evidence.

“Most crimes against children are not committed by strangers but by people they know.”

The BBC later apologised and edited out the comment from the segment on the BBC Sounds catch-up service.

It said while Dr Kandiah’s comment was “broadly in line with expectations of Thought for the Day, some of the language it used went beyond that and we apologise for its inclusion”.

In response to Dr Kandiah’s objection Jenrick, who is MP for Newark, took to social media to say: “If you’re a parent and worried for the safety of your children because of illegal migrants then you’re racist”.

Dr Kandiah, who lives in Henley with his wife, Miriam, and six children, launched his charity shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to inspire people to come forward and sponsor Ukrainian refugees.

He is also president of the YMCA in Lawson Road in Henley, a position he has held since 2023.

Dr Kandiah took to Instagram last week to extend an “olive branch” to Jenrick.

He said he would “love to find a way we could work together to de-escalate the fear and anger many are feeling in our country”.

“I worked with you when you [Jenrick] were Housing Minister and the UK welcomed more than 200,000 people from Hong Kong. I was grateful for your support and compassion during that time. I believe we need to focus on the real challenges that are making people worried — housing, jobs and the cost of living — rather than ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment.”

Sam Jonkers is a lead volunteer with Care4Calais for the Thames Valley area.

She said: “I am quite familiar with Robert Jenrick and his actions when he was in Government. He is famous for painting over children’s murals for asylum seekers because they were too welcoming.

“We deal with people from many different countries, all the places that you see on the news, and the one thing they have in common is a strong desire to give back to the community or the country that fostered them safely.

“I think that some of the scapegoating out there at the moment is not helpful for community cohesion.

“People in asylum hotels are scared. They have escaped persecution in their homeland and at the moment they are very scared of the hate that is being directed towards them.”

Mrs Jonkers runs Jonkers Rare Books in Hart Street with her husband Christiaan and the couple have two daughters.

She said she found it tricky to understand what Jenrick’s aims and objectives were “beyond personal power”.

“So much of the rhetoric now, and when he was in Government, is really counter-productive,” she said.

“He is the person who stalled asylum decision-making. I don’t understand his comments. They certainly appear to come from a xenophobic viewpoint.

“The majority of people here are warm, welcoming and interested in knowing the truth and interested in hearing personal, first-hand stories.”

Mrs Jonkers’s mother, Val Johnstone, 79, hosts refugees at her home in Middle Assendon to give them time to apply for jobs and housing once their application for asylum has been approved.

Ms Johnstone said Mr Jenrick’s comments did not match her experiences.

She said: “I am an elderly lady who is nearly 80.

“All the time I have worked with them I have never once had a reason to be frightened, and in fact, the kindness is unbelievable.

“They are so kind and so helpful. We help them but they give us more than we give them sometimes.

“Listening to what people like Jenrick say, I don’t recognise them. You listen to all the rhetoric and you think you just need to know people.”

Ms Johnstone said many people in the local area were very supportive of her efforts.

She said: “The other thing I find is you get people like Jenrick but here in Middle Assendon people know what I do and they know me as ‘Mama Val’ and know to give me donations.

“I come in and I have bags of clothes on the doorstep. People are very kind.”