Leaders of three major denominations say changes at the Home Office may worsen the plight of asylum seekers subject to Britain’s draconian immigration laws. They condemn the attempted deportation of a traumatised Iranian woman.

Christians have given evidence to the United Nations concerning the estimated two million refugees that have fled Iraq since the invasion in 2003, urging Britain and US to open their doors to them.

Concerns are growing at the level of hardship being experienced across Jordan as a result of the growing number of Iraqi refugees, in what Christian charity World Emergency Relief (WER) is calling a ‘hidden crisis'.

Conflict in Somalia is fuelling fears of a new refugee crisis, according to Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), a development agency with considerable experience in the region.

Kenyan Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi has urged his government to reconsider a decision earlier this week to close its borders to refugees from neighbouring strife-torn Somalia - writes Fredrick Nzwili for Ecumenical News International.

After the intervention of the Ethiopian troops, the situation in Somalia continues to be very tense, with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) refusing a government offer for amnesty, say church agencies working in the region.

As violence continues to make life intolerable for many people in Iraq, Pope Benedict XVI, head of th world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, has made an appeal to the international community for direct assistance to those forced to leave their homes as a result of the "dramatic situation" in the country.