Archbishop of Canterbury to house Syrian refugee families next month at Lambeth Palace

At least 20 Syrian refugee families are expected to finally move to Lambeth Palace next month after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made his offer last year.

According to London SE1, Lambeth Council's deputy leader, Councillor Paul McGlone confirmed that the Most Reverend Welby's offer since September last year is finally coming to fruition next month.

"We are proud that Lambeth is living up to its historic reputation as a borough that is welcoming to all," the community website quoted McGlone as saying.

He added, "So far we have welcomed three families and all has worked well. All families now have access to the benefit system and health service. Children have been found appropriate school placements, and are settling into their local communities well."

He also mentioned Citizens UK/Lambeth Welcomes Refugees for supplementing whatever provision they found wanting. He also pegged the fourth Syrian refugee family to arrive in early September.

Aside from providing a place to stay, the council also created a project team tasked to look after the needs of the Syrian refugee families even before they're expected to arrive. On top of all these, the Council also signaled plans to take in the unaccompanied child refugees coming in to the U.K.

The head of the Church of England openly criticized the British government's efforts to resolve the refugee crisis especially its plan to take in 20,000 refugees by 2020, which he thought as "very slim."

"A problem of this scale can only be dealt with by a response on an equally grand scale right across Europe, and we have to play our part," said Archbishop Welby in an interview in early March with The House, Parliament's weekly magazine.

He compared the U.K.'s efforts to those of Germany where he witnessed firsthand how Germans and churches in Berlin took in 1.1 million refugees last year.

A month after the archbishop's interview, Pope Francis visited the Moria refugee center in Lesbos where he brought back with him to the Vatican 12 Syrian refugees. Last month, the Vatican flew in from Athens a second batch of nine Syrian refugees.