Thoughts on the Current Refugee Crisis

I'm sure it's pretty obvious that I have been doing a lot of research and thinking lately about the refugee crisis that is ensuing around the world...

Initially I was angry and disappointed in myself for waiting so long to finally become educated about the different situations in many of the countries producing the majority of refugees.

Then I quickly became angry and disappointed with the world's response to this humanitarian crisis.

Interestingly, we've been discussing immigration in my Sociology class this semester, and most of the discussion has centered around why many countries are so opposed to immigration.

Some arguments were made that immigrants flood job markets or fill schools with their children, but other arguments can be made against these issues that actually show the benefit of immigrants in these situations.

The main issue I began to see, based on the discussion in my class and from what I have seen in the news recently, is the issue of culture.

Large groups of people of a common culture moving into an area dominated by people of a different culture raises a lot of potential problems that are worth discussing.

In my class there was a woman who had family in South Texas, and she talked about how so much of that area of the country is influenced by hispanic culture. Billboards are in Spanish, there are Mexican ice cream shops, stores sell hispanic brands of products, etc. She said that her family often mentioned that they felt like strangers in their own country.

This same sentiment was echoed by an Austrian student in the class. Austria is known as being one of the world's greatest acceptors of immigrants and refugees, but there are significant repercussions of this that might not be evident on the surface.

The student talked about how you can easily walk down the streets of Vienna and hear any language but that of the native people. He said that it is now illegal to fly the Austrian flag at some sporting events, because it apparently caused too many conflicts with the now high percentage of foreign peoples attending those games.

He said that the immigrants and refugees often seemed ungrateful for the hospitality they had been given, and that this was very frustrating to the Austrian people. He made the statement that he too often felt like a stranger in his own home. 

So how do we respond?

As Christians it's important to note that the Bible has quite a lot to say about immigration. Christ certainly had a lot to say about caring for the poor, the widow, the orphan, etc. 

Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 25:35, Exodus 22:2, Deuteronomy 27:19, Hebrews 13:2, Proverbs 31:8-9, Matthew 5:46-47 just to name a few. 

The Israelites were once immigrants in Egypt, and they journeyed across many foreign lands to find a home. A home whose borders are still under dispute today. Shouldn't we then have sympathy for those people today who are also searching for a home, a safe place to raise their children and establish a life? 

Christ's entire gospel is centered around ministry to the poor, to the broken, and to the societal exiles. It seems like the 4 billion Syrian and billions of other men, women, and children who have been displaced by the multiple crises occurring all over the world would fall under those categories. 

It's sad that it takes a picture of a drowned Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish shore after a failed attempt to reach Greece to get the world's attention, but even now not enough discussion is happening.

I, for one, can no longer ignore these cries for help. And it personally breaks my heart to see videos of refugees and immigrants alike being forbidden from crossing Hungarian borders or being beaten in Greek refugee camps. 

So, back to the issue of culture. I was reading an article by an online news source called "Vox", and they said something that I thought was extremely relevant and true:

"For those of us who live in those countries, that means accepting that our communities will look and feel different from how they have in the past. It requires adjusting, at least slightly, our vision of what our communities look like, and widening the definition of our culture to accommodate new arrivals, even if their customs and values might seem alien to us. That's not something that has ever come easily to people, but it is the only real solution there is."

I think this applies to the refugee crisis as well as to immigration in general. Allowing a large group of people of a different culture, religion, ethnicity, language, etc. into your pre-existing society can be uncomfortable. But it is the ONLY way to effectively solve this problem apart from solving all of the political and social unrest occurring in the countries causing all of this... 

I can not emphasize this enough. These are people. These are mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles and daughters and sons and grandmothers and grandfathers. 

These are people who had hopes and dreams and talents and careers and LIVES. And now everything they once knew is gone. It has been ripped away from them, and they are left with no other choice but to risk their own lives as well as their children's to travel thousands of miles over dangerous territories and waters to find somewhere, anywhere, to start over. 

So what do we do? 

First we pray. We pray for the individuals affected. We pray for their countries' leadership. We pray for the leadership of the countries that are being faced with the decision of whether or not to let refugees in and how to deal with those they do. We pray that the Lord would show us ways He desires us to contribute.

Then we raise awareness. We start talking. Too many people do not even understand the severity of this situation, and a month ago I was one of those people. In many ways I am sure I am STILL one of those people. There is always more to learn. More importantly, a problem can never be solved if the people with the ability to solve it do not know it exists.

And then we give. We give what we can when we can, and we fight to be the good Samaritan in a situation where too many people are choosing to turn a blind eye.