The Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin has spoken of her 'rage' over the deaths of 17 men, seven women and three children when their boat sank in the English Channel on Wednesday. Speaking with BBC Radio Kent this morning, she called for the issue of migration to stop being used as a 'political football', saying: 'I am feeling a deep inner rage that the world continues to allow this to happen, couched with political rhetoric as to whose fault it is. This is all our fault, we must all take responsibility.'
Speaking separately with Premier Christian Radio she added: 'It feels very personal, but not just because I'm the Bishop of Dover. It's personal because they're human beings. How many deaths will it take until the world wakes up to the realisation that those who are dying are human beings? They're our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters. I feel an inner rage that we continue to allow this tragedy to unfold.
'It is shocking. We must all take responsibility. We keep contributing to the rhetoric around migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, economic migrants, whatever means we want to use, we bump up the rhetoric which then goes towards the politicians and then they accentuate it, because they think that that is what the people want. They've got to stop that.
'It's too late for blaming people. Traffickers are wretched people and they are abusing those who are most vulnerable and that is despicable. But you know what, this is not about blaming that group or that country, etc. This is something epic. This deserves the international community to sit down together and not leave the table until they find a solution.'