people who sleep on friends’ floors or sofas, or squat in empty offices or houses.

Getting involved:
Look at the
Housing Justice website - www.housingjustice.org.uk.

And
Homelessness Sunday
28 January 2007
'No Home No Justice'

In our affluent consumer society we are all encouraged to think of our dwellings as monetary assets rather than as the heart of family life, as places of comfort and safe refuge, and as key components of our identity. Homelessness Sunday will focus on some of the injustices that are linked with homelessness. The Resource Pack features material on affordability; shortage of social housing; rural homelessness; homeless and destitute asylum seekers and the problems faced by Central European nationals in Britain who are not entitled to welfare benefits.

For further information on the Homelessness Sunday packs please contact 020 7723 7273 or email hs@housinjustice.org.uk

Asylum Principles

The ecumenical coalition, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), has published a pamphlet, Asylum Principles, in order to speak out with one voice on urgent asylum issues. The following is an extract:

CORE PRINCIPLES

·	Christians believe that all people are created equal in dignity, made in the image of God. Therefore, we affirm respect for the worth of every human being regardless of nationality, ethnicity, culture, colour,

sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, social status, religion and belief. We recognise that governments have a primary responsibility for their own citizens but basic human rights should not be denied to any persons coming to these islands on the grounds that they are not, or are not yet, fully accepted as citizens.

As Christians, we fully accept our obligations as citizens of the countries in which we live but we also recognise that our lives are a pilgrimage in which we have no abiding city and that our 'true citizenship' is in heaven. We therefore do not attribute absolute value to the rights and privileges of nationality and citizenship. We recognise that these, like other worldly goods, are given to us not solely for our personal enjoyment but for sharing with others when they are in need.

Christians affirm the obligation to offer hospitality to people whose lives have been dislocated – such as those seeking asylum and those seeking reunification with their families. All those who face discrimination should be treated with compassion and justice. People fleeing persecution have a special claim on us to help them make good their claim for asylum and to find safety, peace and wellbeing.

·	Christian belief in a personal God sets good relationships as the foundation of community cohesion. It follows that it is in the interest of wider society to reunite members of divided families wherever possible.