Welcome Christian refugues, rather than Crave War

The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) has commended one of their workers for writing to their MP concerning the recent Syria vote.  They wrote:

I am writing to urge you to oppose military intervention in Syria.  

My reasons are as follows : 

1) It is far from clear that it was the regime that carried out the chemical attacks.  I note that 

a) this would not be the first time that a false-flag operation involving chemical weapons has been carried out by non-regime actors in Syria.  There was a smaller but similar false flag operation attempting to blame the regime late last year.  

b) There are a number of anomalies, including what appears to be video shots of alleged victims of the chemical weapons attacks which were posted on youtube BEFORE the date of the incident (there have been a number of staged videos in this conflict).  I would not dismiss out of hand Syrian regime assertions that it was the rebels who staged this attack.  

2)  Even if it was the regime that carried out such attacks, the wider political situation merits extreme caution. As a human rights worker who deals with mainly Pakistan, but keeps up with issues in the Middle East, it concerns me greatly that we would be essentially siding with rebel groups, by far the strongest of whom are al-Qaeda affiliated and committing atrocities that are killing more people than these chemical attacks.  They have stated genocidal aims to wipe out all Christians and Shia Muslims and other religious minorities from the state of Syria, and they are carrying out their threats.  Whatever the moral deficiencies of the Assad regime, any punitive strike - even with the aim of discouraging other actors from using chemical weapons - would materially weaken the Assad regime and allow even worse groups to gain power.  The example of Egypt, where well organised extremist groups were already in a position to dominate and overpower the so-called 'Arab Spring' is very relevant, except in Syria the extremists are militarily the best supported and armed and organized groups. 

I would say a far better response for the UK would be to open doors to refugees, particularly Christians and those of other persecuted minorities, thereby helping save the most vulnerable targets of extremist groups.

Since the vote, the BPCA has learned from other sources of further reasons to doubt that the Assad regime was responsible for all of the deaths, including eye-witness accounts speaking of brown, foul smelling clouds of gas (Sarin, the alleged chemical weapon involved is colorless and odourless).  One human rights group with significant contacts in the area told us that they were completely convinced that the rebels were behind the attack, not the government.  

BPCA chairman Wilson Chowdhry said: 

'Regardless of the facts of this particular incident, the BPCA would like to echo and emphasize the last point.  We repeatedly hear from Pakistani Christians who complain that their persecutors seem to easily gain entry to the UK, whereas they cannot.   Pakistani Christians are not alone in this complaint.  We hear similar concerns from groups that deal with Christians suffering religious persecution in other countries.  A more fitting response would be for the UK government to facilitate those targeted Christians and other peaceful minority groups who wish to escape.  We repeatedly find that the UK has become a haven for extremist Islamic groups who are allowed to openly spout their hatred.  To facilitate the entry of Christian and peaceful groups would mean not only saving lives, but enhancing the UK with people who are more likely to integrate well, share the values of the UK, and who will not be a security threat.  The BPCA has been on record for noting severe deficiencies in the UK Border Agencies handling and approach to Pakistani Christian asylum seekers, deficiencies which extend beyond Pakistani Christians to other Christians, especially those from the Middle East and North Africa. Naively perhaps, not knowing much of the secularization of UK society and the cult of political correctness, Christians in Muslim lands tend to see the UK and the West as Christian nations who should be especially welcoming of them, as opposed to persecuted mainstream Muslims who can look to Iran or the Gulf States for support.  We call on David Cameron and the government to re-think their approach, and focus much more on actively helping and welcoming those suffering Christians and other minority groups who would soon turn out to be an asset to our society and culture if they come here, and in helping to form a stable civil society if they choose to stay in their home region.'