BRITAIN: The Archbishop of Canterbury was tonight at the centre of a row after reports said he supported the detention of asylum seekers.
Dr Rowan Williams was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying it would be "perfectly reasonable" for those hoping to stay in Britain to be kept in secure accommodation while their cases were being considered.
The comments sparked anger from refugee and civil liberty groups, who labelled the words as "unhelpful" and impractical".
Mr Leigh Daynes, spokesman for Refugee Action, said he was shocked by suggestions of detention. "There is no justification for it whatsoever and I would be surprised if it was a view shared by many of his bishops.
"What we need is our politicians and religious leaders to take part in informed debate based on fact."
But a spokesman for Dr Williams insisted the Archbishop was referring to the debate over detention and not detention itself.
The spokesman said: "It should be clear from what he said, he was not actually calling for this [secure accommodation\]. He said it was perfectly reasonable for the question to be raised and that the issue of security was not a trivial one."
Dr Williams, who rarely shies from sensitive issues, told the newspaper that an inadequately handled influx of asylum seekers could generate a sense of a "foreign presence" around them.
However, Dr Williams also said the application process needed to be speeded up and there was a danger of a lack of resources hampering that, comments welcomed by asylum groups.