The CEO of the Refugee Legal Service has said that the Minister for Immigration should be exercising humanity and sharpening up his department's decision-making instead of attacking human rights advocates.

Free Church denominations have called for justice and compassion for asylum seekers, following a statement from Immigration Minister Phil Woolas criticising human rights groups and lawyers for assisting the vulnerable.

Lawyers, charities and church workers have described as "extraordinary" and "deplorable" comments by UK Immigration Minister Phil Woolas suggesting that people seeking asylum should not have access to full British justice.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas should be publicly investigating his own government's bias against asylum seekers rather than attacking charities, human rights groups and lawyers for giving vulnerable people support, says the religion and society think tank Ekklesia.

A Church of Scotland official has welcomed the British government's response to its concerns about the Dungavel asylum detention centre, but churches remain deeply disturbed by the official treatment of those seeking refuge in the UK.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a research body bringing together the world's richest developed countries, has suggested that fears about migration and hostility towards migrant workers are unjustified.

People working with migrants in the churches and civic organisations have expressed dismay at the recent comments on immigration by former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, who has joined a cross-party group calling for stricter controls.

Migration is a fact of life, an instinct to survive and an inevitable consequence of globalization - something we can neither turn our backs on it nor control, declared a statement of participants at a faith-led public hearing in Beirut.

Migration is a human concern, not a Muslim or a Christian one, and joint action is vital, declared representatives of Lebanon's six most numerous faith communities at a Public Hearing on Migration in Beirut this week.