The war in Ukraine has made starkly real to many of us the plight of those who have to flee from their homes. The situation with Syrian and Afghani refugees had already been a reality, but, sad to say, as stories drop out of headlines and new ones take their place, it is easy to forget them and push them to the back of our minds.
Wars are not the only reason for people abandoning their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere; floods, crop failure and other disasters also contribute to migration. Then, the floods in Bangladesh and the famine in so many parts of Africa are not helped by global warming and mismanagement of resources by governments, now exacerbated by the fall in food exports from Ukraine. With the advent of the internet, just as we can see the sufferings of other people, they can see the (relative) plenty in the ‘developed’ world. It isn’t a surprise to that people seek way out of poverty by emigration.
Migration is not a new phenomenon, of course. Indeed the history of Abrahamic faiths starts with God’s call to Abraham to go into Canaan to take their land and settle down there. It is hard to reconcile Bible stories like this with our current understanding of nationhood and nationalities! All the same, the code of behaviour expected towards migrants was absolutely clear: ‘the alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you’.
It is Refugee Week as this issue goes to press. It will pass most of us by, as ‘special’ weeks come and go throughout the year. But maybe we should pause to give a thought to the huge complexities involved in migration and the dilemmas faced by governments in decision making, while also reflecting on how we can treat ’the aliens’ among us as ‘native-born’ and love them as ourselves.
Have a happy summer!
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