The former Archbishop of Canterbury accused the government of being biased against Christian refugees from Syria.
In an article he wrote for The Telegraph, George Carey lamented about the "steady crucifixion of Middle East Christians." He said Christians, who are being "disproportionately persecuted" in the Middle East, should be given priority by the government, but this is not happening.
"One of the most disturbing things about the current crisis is how slow the world has been to recognize that Christians, and indeed other groups such as Yazidis, are facing genocide in Syria and Iraq," Lord Carey wrote.
"Even those governments which recognize there is a serious problem are sitting on their hands and doing nothing to prevent the eradication of Christians from the birthplace of our faith," he added.
In December 2016, Barnabas Fund, an organization that primarily helps Christians living in Muslim environments, released a report stating that less than 1 percent of Syrian refugees who enter the U.K. are Christians.
The organization said data from the U.K. Home Office showed that from September 2015 and September 2016, a total of 4,175 Syrian refugees were admitted into the U.K.'s Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, but only 64 or 1.5 percent of these were Christians.
Barnabas Fund also uncovered a "disturbing" trend: over time, the number of Syrian Christians being resettled in the U.K. is decreasing. The organization pointed out that from July to September 2016, 1,583 Syrian refugees entered the U.K., and only 13 or 0.8 percent of these were Christians.
The organization said the pattern appeared to be similar to that of the U.S., where the number of Syrian Christians being resettled fell from 1.98 percent from March 2011 to February 2016 to 0.8 percent from October 2015 to February 2016. This figure went down further to a mere 0.5 percent from October 2015 to September 2016, showing a steady decline over time.
These figures show that there is an "institutional discrimination in how the U.N High Commission for Refugees operates on the ground," Barnabas Fund said. The selection of refugees for both the U.K. and the U.S. is being done by the U.N.
Lord Carey, addressing this issue, said "politically correct" government officials are discriminating against Christian refugees, and in doing so, they violate the law.
"In the run-up to Easter British taxpayers will be appalled by this institutional bias against Christians by politically correct officials," Lord Carey said. "In this the British government is not just breaking its manifesto pledge to look after Christian refugees, it also appears to be breaking the law."
