The Church of England has effectively backed military intervention by the UK government in Syria by unanimously passing a motion which implied support for the use of armed force in establishing safe routes for refugees, with the personal endorsement of the archbishop of Canterbury.



Justin Welby spelled out that the motion, debated at the C of E synod in London, essentially committed the church to supporting military action. “The implications are enormous,” he said, adding that he backed the motion.



Armed action was “almost inevitable” in response to the crisis in Syria, Welby said. The forces that were driving people to become refugees needed to be confronted, he added.



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The motion, proposed by the bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, called on the government “to work with international partners in Europe and elsewhere to help establish safe and legal routes to places of safety, including this country, for refugees who are vulnerable and at severe risk”.



Welby told the church assembly that it needed to recognise the implications of the clause. Referring to the actions of the French police in the Paris club, the Bataclan, which came under attack 11 days ago, he said the international community had to face the fact that it might similarly need to challenge the perpetrators of terror in Syria.



“Let us support the motion, but do so utterly realistically about its implications,” he said. Parliament would be compelled shortly to respond to the government’s proposals on extending military action to Syria, he added.



Welby has argued for around a year that military intervention may be necessary to create safe spaces, said his spokesperson, but has also stressed the need for a long-term cohesive global strategy for the region. Butler acknowledged that there “may well be a need for armed conflict” to secure safe passage routes for refugees.

The motion – passed by 333 votes, with none opposed and three abstentions – also urged C of E parishes and dioceses to “provide practical and sustainable resources and structures for the resettlement of vulnerable refugees”. It called on the government to significantly increase the numbers of those allowed entry to the UK to above 20,000. It said that “vulnerability to religiously motivated persecution” should be taken into account when identifying those to be brought to the UK from the Middle East.

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Proposing the motion, the bishop of Durham said Syrian Christians must be given fair treatment. Many Christian refugees were not based in camps because they faced intimidation there or had the means to fund journeys to Europe.



“The compassion which compels us to help the refugee will be blind to differences of creed as to colour or any other characteristic. For all that, it is right that we uphold the right of our fellow Christians to fair treatment,” Butler told the synod. “Whether or not they are in refugee camps, easy or hard to find, they must suffer no discrimination ... Those whose suffering is exacerbated by religiously motivated persecution deserve to have that factor give full weight in the calculation of need.”

Andrew Nunn, the dean of Southwark, objected to the “welcome” given by the motion to government aid to refugees, arguing that the church should instead “acknowledge” it. He said there was a “huge amount of disappointment, frustration and anger” within the church over the government’s “meagre response” to the refugee crisis. His amendment was defeated.

