Representatives of churches and charities across London were among the 30 people at the October Refugee Vigil outside the Home Office on Monday.
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), London Catholic Workers, Seeking Sanctuary and the Columban Justice and Peace team attended the vigil in Westminster, where volunteers read out the names of people who died in October 2023 trying to enter Europe or the UK.
They concluded with a prayer of repentance: “You told us to welcome strangers in our land, but we have hated, humiliated, imprisoned, and killed those who have asked for our hospitality. Forgive us and help us to change.”
James Trewby, the Columbans’ Justice, Peace and Ecology coordinator, and Abi Yendole, a Columban Faith in Action volunteer, accompanied the Justice and Peace Committee from St George’s School in Maida Vale, comprising 16 pupils and a teacher.
“Hearing all the names and stories of those who have died meant I was able to personify every victim, give every victim a face – it was powerful,” said one pupil afterwards. This echoed the words of Pope Francis, recorded on the refugee memorial in Dover that, “every migrant has a name, a face and a story”.
Br Johannes Maertens of the London Catholic Worker gave a reflection on his visits to Calais and the work of an arts refugee project using maps to encourage refugees to tell the story of where they have come from, where they are now and where they hope to go. He said that some of the young men he met had been travelling for six years.
The intercessions included the prayer: “We pray for the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, those working in this building, and all others who work to maintain border regimes, that they will be guided by their conscience to change policy. We pray for the end of the hostile environment, and the creation of safe, legal routes to claim asylum in this country.”
Participants sang the Iona Community’s Hymn “A Touching Place” and remembered a baby who had drowned in the Channel on the night of 17 October when a boat capsized.
“Our hearts are broken and our thoughts and prayers are with the baby’s parents and family. As we mourn, we are painfully aware that this tragedy was avoidable,” said a statement from JRS UK on 18 October.
There was a collection for the Dutch charity that gathers the names of those who die travelling to the EU and UK.
These vigils – held on the third Monday of every month for the past three years – are co-sponsored by the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission, the London Catholic Worker and the London Churches Refugee Fund. An organiser, Barbara Kentish, said: “If only we could say things were better, but alas, we need to pray harder than ever.”
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