Five Syrian refugee families will be housed in Warwick - The Leamington Observer

Five Syrian refugee families will be housed in Warwick

Leamington Editorial 7th Apr, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

REFUGEES fleeing war torn Syria will be re-homed in the district.

The Government has agreed to take in 20,000 refugees from Syria and Warwick District Council approved plans to house five Syrian families.

Refugees coming to the district are unlikely to arrive until the end of the year at the earliest.

Planning permission had been granted to use an 18th century Church of England owned mansion at Offchurch as a temporary reception centre for refugees coming to the area.




Offa House, which is within the village conservation area and next to St Gregory’s Church, has 27 bedrooms and was put on the market two years ago with a guide price of £1.25million.

But funding for the project to convert the building into a ‘transit location’ was rejected by the Home Office and instead the families coming to the district will be housed straight away.


Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, has already offered a cottage in the grounds of Lambeth Palace to house refugees.

The former Southam vicar said: “As Christians we believe we are called to break down barriers, to welcome the stranger and love them as ourselves and to seek the peace and justice of our God, in our world, today.”

Refugees at grave risk of harm are being selected to come to the UK, directly from camps in Syria, under the government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme.

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