In what will be seen as a very unhelpful intervention to the debate on immigration by many church campaigners for migrants and refugees, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has called for a ‘clear cap’ on population growth.

Against the backdrop of a sharp rise in anti-migrant rhetoric, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches has said the Bible is the "ultimate immigration handbook" and that Christians should stand with the oppressed.

Campaigners, including many church groups, have been encouraged by a study that an amnesty for many of the 600,000 illegal migrants in Britain could provide a £3 million boost to the economy.

The new immigration system in Britain is throwing church workers into confusion because the UK Border Agency does not understand religious activities, says the EA. But there are larger concerns, too.

The falsehood according to which wealthy host countries are "victims" of migration needs to be challenged, as in fact their economies benefit from the exploitation of their work, an international consultation says.

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.

At a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has called on its member churches to advocate for the removal of discriminatory travel and entry restrictions, and similar examples of stigmatizations to people living with HIV.