There are few more fraught political issues than migration, given that civil conflict, political unrest and climate change translate into increasing numbers of people forced to flee their homes. The war in Sudan seems likely to result in more refugees seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe and to seek asylum in neighbouring countries. Already more than 100,000 people cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy each year – 181,000 in 2016. Some flee war; some, understandably, wish to better their lives. And there is, of course, a corresponding problem in the US from migrants seeking to cross the border from countries such as Venezuela.
There is a vigorous debate in Europe as to how best to meet this challenge. Last month, the British government responded to unprecedented numbers crossing the Channel with an Illegal Migration Bill which would allow it to send unsanctioned refugees arriving in Britain to a safe third country – it has already established an arrangement with Rwanda to receive those refused permission to stay. In a debate in the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on behalf of the Church of England, took issue with the Bill, calling it “morally unacceptable”. He went further in his Easter sermon in Canterbury Cathedral last year, when he declared that the proposal was contrary to Resurrection values.
The Catholic bishops have been less publicly vocal on this issue than Anglicans but they have, nonetheless, made their opposition known. Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for migration and refugee issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, declared that the Conference would support the Archbishop of Canterbury, both in upholding “international frameworks” which would prevent the deportation of refugees, and “tackling the root causes” of migration, from conflict to cuts in international aid.
The Church should tread carefully here. Of course it is entitled to engage in political debate where there are serious moral questions involved but it should be wary of being partisan. It is one thing to insist that refugees should be protected from harm; quite another to condemn their removal to another country where they will not face persecution. Christians may legitimately find themselves on both sides of the Rwanda policy. Those who support the government’s approach may seek to destroy the model on which people traffickers operate and may be concerned about the effect of assimilating so many people on the local communities where they are placed. Others, reportedly including the King, feel that the government should support the European Court of Human Rights, which has thwarted the proposal.
Where most Christians will agree is that it is better to focus on dealing with the problems at source which drive people from their homes: through conflict resolution (though that has had only qualified success in Sudan, north and south); through targeted international aid; through economic models that are not skewed against the poorest countries.
Christians have always had a tenderness for refugees, not least because Jesus, Mary and Joseph found themselves seeking refuge from Herod in Egypt. The Holy Family had a well-founded fear of persecution (evidenced by the Massacre of the Innocents) and returned home after the danger had passed. But this does not mean that governments are not entitled to restrict the numbers entering their countries; they have a duty to their own people, too.
The Church must assert the dignity of individual migrants without seeming to suggest that those who seek to diminish their numbers are unchristian. Meanwhile, Catholic aid agencies continue to offer help to people in poor and conflict-ridden countries: that we can all support.
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