Refugee migration today

Introduction

The world is increasingly witnessing a surge in refugees that poses questions to the responsibility of the global community in protecting the human dignity and rights of refugees. Indeed, some efforts have been taken by a few international organizations like the United Nations and churches and NGOs to protect the rights of refugees; and governments, policymakers, legal experts, political scientists and human rights activists have taken some steps to address the crisis. Nevertheless, the sufferings of refugees only increase day by day, and there are often barriers to the acceptance of refugees among native citizens. This is especially true for refugees seeking asylum in Western countries today. It is heartening that some Christians and their churches are taking some actions to welcome and help refugees. Expressing solidarity with refugees, these Christians help them with shelter, food and other support, including pastoral support. Further, they also produce reflections based on the Bible and the Christian faith to encourage their fellow Christians, fellow citizens and their governments and policymakers to welcome and accommodate refugees. Such reflections need to go on as part of constructing theological resources so that the entire Christian community and the global community can be persuaded to welcome and accept refugees and protect their rights. This article maintains that one important way of constructing theological resources in the context of the refugee crisis is to bring the reality of migration to the centre of Christian theological reflection and articulation. Although attempts to develop a theology (or theologies) of migration began a few decades ago, it still has a long way to go. This article focuses on how these efforts can influence the way we do theology today.

Clearly, the refugee crisis is primarily due to forced migration, ² but refugee concerns cannot be theologically articulated well without considering the reality of migration in its entirety. While a refugee crisis is found in almost all parts of the world today, in this article, I focus on the contemporary Western context, where responses of the native citizens are divided in welcoming refugees. Hence, a theology that enables Christians to accept refugees is the concern. I am specifically looking at how a theology of migration involves drawing insights from liberation and contextual theologies, developing new interpretations of Christian doctrines and foundational beliefs in the light of migration, inviting an active Christian engagement in the public sphere and challenging the theology of religions and interreligious dialogue.

Current refugee crisis

In a world where globalization claims to bring people, cultures and nations together, we increasingly see refugees, migrants and other vulnerable people finding it very difficult to be accepted. In the mid twentieth century, the refugee crisis became an important concern for the international community, and it received much attention in Europe in the post-Second World War period due to the Holocaust. Today the crisis has become even more intense and widespread. In particular, the occupation of countries, civil wars, armed conflicts in the twenty-first century and several effects of globalization and corporate control of resources all over the world have created a huge contemporary refugee crisis.

In addressing the refugee crisis there are at least three issues to be considered, which are important for the subsequent discussion in this article. First, because the reactions to the refugee crisis from governments and natives are critical, there have been efforts to define ‘refugee’, ‘forced migration’ and ‘migration’. ³ Though, broadly, migration and refugee crises are not the same, nevertheless much migration today is forced migration, and forced migrations can occur due to obvious causes like war, armed conflicts and violence, as well as because of not-so-direct and not-so-visible factors such as economic oppression, globalization, corporate control of resources and so on. Many experts in migration studies acknowledge that a hard and fast distinction between migrants and refugees is not always possible. ⁴ Of course, it should be noted that there are international migrants, mostly economic migrants, who are beneficiaries of globalization, who might not be under any forced migration.

Second, the discrimination and troubles that the refugees undergo: initially in their own countries, through war and threat of war, loss of loved ones, loss of belongings, abuse, physical violence and much more; then during their often-dangerous journeys, when they try to escape and end up in borders and refugee detention centres; and if they succeed in getting into a country to seek asylum, the resistance they receive from the native citizens and governments of their destinations. These experiences of suffering also apply at a different level to migrants, especially those coming from poor backgrounds and doing menial jobs in foreign countries. ⁵

Third is the opposition of native citizens to accepting refugees because of the fear of loss of wealth, jobs and security, and because they see refugees as the cultural, ethnic, racial and religious other who are a possible threat to native values and traditions. Politically, several Western countries are wary of the current influx of refugees into their countries and some are closing their borders. Australia and the United States are examples. With the recent change in political power, refugees are no longer welcome in the United States. President Donald Trump’s recent ban on refugees and his indefinite ban on Syrian refugees entering the United States has only worsened the refugee crisis.

Christian attitudes towards refugees

In common with their fellow citizens, Christian attitudes to refugees in Western countries are divided: ⁶ there are Christians who accept refugees due to cherished Christian values, especially the biblical principles of accepting and helping strangers and those in need. In this regard, several steps have been taken by Christians of different denominations and churches to welcome refugees. In addition to practical help for refugees, these Christians have produced a number of theological and pastoral resources to encourage the welcoming of refugees. ⁷ However, there are also Christians who are not willing to welcome refugees. Generally, they are of two kinds: some argue that borders are a matter for the state and a good citizen, even when doing political theology, should leave those issues to the government. ⁸ But there are others, especially among the more conservative, who because of their antagonism towards Muslims and people from other cultures, resist refugees, citing such reasons as security concerns and protection of their religious and cultural values. ⁹ While they specifically resist non-Christian migrants, sometimes they influence their governments to favour Christian migrants. The most recent example of this would be Trump favouring Christian refugees from the Middle East while banning Muslims from seven countries, a move supported by many conservative Christians. Apart from these groups, there are also Christians who are indifferent to these issues, claiming that social and political participation is not part of a Christian calling.

Refugee crisis and doing theology

Constructing theological resources to address refugee concerns is one of the most important tasks in doing theology today. There can be at least two ways to bring refugee crises into theological attention, which can address the suffering of refugees as well as the attitudes of Christian natives who find themselves in the context of dealing with refugees: first, as already mentioned, Bible-based reflections on accepting the stranger, and developing a theology of hospitality and solidarity; second, in a more fundamental way, the reality of migration can be brought to influence the way theology is done today.

Generally, for many years, the refugee crisis in particular and migration in general have been considered as social phenomena as if theology has nothing to do with them: migration is an important subject in international law, political studies, human rights, ethics and other disciplines, but not in theology. Commenting on this trend and lamenting the lack of theological perspectives in understanding migration, Daniel Groody, one of the very few theologians to develop a theology of migration, said a decade ago that theology ‘is almost never mentioned in major works or at centers of migration studies. Some research has been done on migration and religion from a sociological perspective, but there is virtually nothing on the topic from a theological perspective. Theology seems to enter the academic territory from the outside, as if it were a “disciplinary refugee” with no official recognition in the overall discourse about migration.’ ¹⁰ After a decade now, there are a few works emerging, ¹¹ but works on migration in terms of a theological methodology are still rare.

Yet migration is one of the foundational aspects of the biblical world. It ‘is omnipresent in the Bible as well as in church history as a kind of “red thread”. Experiences of migration have not only left their traces throughout the scriptures, they have also been at work in the shaping of theology itself.’ ¹² This is very important, because without throwing light on migration, it is not easy to explain the salvation history of the Old and New Testaments. In fact, migration itself is a ‘theologizing experience’ ¹³ or a ‘theological event’, both because of its place in the Bible and in Christian history and ‘since immigrants often make sense of the alienation that is inherent in migration in religious terms’. ¹⁴ Therefore, in the current context of refugee crisis it is appropriate to look at migration as a theme that can define theology and influence its methods and directions.

Theology of migration as contextual and liberation theology

In order to keep migration as a central aspect in theologizing, first there should be an understanding that theology has a task to achieve. Thanks to liberation theology, theology in recent times is not strictly defined as a description of God, but rather has the task of serving society against human suffering and the socio-economic and political oppression that causes it. As Jon Sobrino famously said, ‘to do theology means, in part, to face reality and raise it to a theological concept. In this task theology should be honest with the real.’ ¹⁵ Accordingly, liberation theology has struggled hard to establish that ‘theology is a reflection on the transcendent significance of all aspects of human experience, but especially of those aspects in which human dignity and solidarity are at stake.’ ¹⁶ As a result, today different oppressed groups in the world have appropriated liberation theology to their own local and living context.

A theology of migration draws insights from the methodology of liberation theology. ¹⁷ Liberation theology can help to bring the human experience of suffering associated with migration to the centre of theological reflection, to think about God amid such suffering and can help Christian natives to continue to work on theologies of solidarity and hospitality. This means that migrants and their experiences of suffering are brought to the centre of theological reflection, while at the same time it allows the natives to participate in developing a theology of migration. Further, the context of migration offers theology the possibility to migrate instead of being stuck with descriptions of the sacred. A theology of migration can indeed help to liberate theology from a static and stagnant condition.

A liberation theology of migration can help not only with the issue of migrants suffering in their destination, and build theologies of solidarity, but can also help to address and challenge and resist the causes of such forced migration. This is because, even though forced migration is often perceived as a problem in itself, it is only ‘a symptom of deeper issues related to human crises ranging from poverty, persecution, and underdevelopment, to widespread socio-political and economic changes such as nation-building and industrial expansion, and to global events like wars, and natural disasters’. ¹⁸ Thus a theology of migration is also a theology of resistance, which has to continue to struggle against the oppressive and exploitative forces in the world.

Interpretation of Christian beliefs in the light of migration

In order to make theology to ‘be honest with the real’ what needs to be done is to allow the important theological concepts and doctrines of Christian faith to be interpreted in the light of migration. The editors of a study initiated by the Churches’ Commission on Migrants in Europe (CCME) rightly capture the situation:

Should migration be a stepchild of theological reflection? It could well be. Mainstream theological thinking does not naturally put us in touch with the field of migration. Migration doesn’t occur in the indices of current works on dogmatics or ethics. This is not surprising where systematic theologians live in ivory towers, secluded from the needs of society and the plight of migrants. What is more astonishing is the fact that often even those within the churches taking sides for the migrants and refugees can easily live on a rather small ration of theological reflection of their involvement: Usually their needs for theology can easily be met with occasional hints to biblical passages referring to the ‘stranger’. ¹⁹

One doctrine, which is often reflected upon and interpreted in the context of migration, is the doctrine of incarnation. Arguing that ‘no aspect of a theology of migration is more fundamental, nor more challenging in its implications, than the incarnation’, ²² Groody says that

a theology of migration is a way of speaking about the significance of the incarnation in light of the issues of contemporary society and the injustices of the current global economy. The incarnation has much to say about a God who crosses borders in order to forge new relationships and the challenge to all human beings to do the same. Even if borders of nation states have some proximate value in constructing identity, protecting values, securing rights, and administering resources, from a Christian perspective, sovereign rights are subject to a larger vision of human rights, the common good, the kingdom of God, and the gratuity of God. ²³

Further, in systematizing the theology of migration, biblical hermeneutics plays a major role. Already the importance of migration and refugee concerns in the Bible are being well articulated by those involved in constructing theological resources to welcome and help refugees. While this continues, advances in hermeneutics should be explored to keep migration at the centre. It is not simply migration in the Bible, but the reality of migration itself has to become a hermeneutical key to interpret the entire biblical story and the biblical world.

Theology of migration for Christian public engagement

Another area where a theology of migration will have significant influence is Christian engagement in the public sphere. Due to the impact of liberation theologies and contextual theologies, theology is not strictly confined to metaphysics and philosophy, rather political and public theologies with an emphasis on Christian participation in socio-economic and political realms have emerged.

However, among Christians there are still many stereotypes when it comes to their political and public engagement, and these shape their attitudes to refugees and migration. While, historically, Christians, both institutionally and individually, have seldom shied away from turning political power in their favour, nevertheless socio-political engagement has been generally perceived among Christians as something secondary compared to the kingdom of God. This has led to negative approaches towards the secular, world, politics and similar categories. Migration and the refugee crisis is an area where Christians need to overcome these binaries for a better engagement with the state.

As I have already pointed out, there are Christians who strictly follow a religious–secular divide when it comes to the refugee crisis and others are indifferent. The often-cited biblical text in this regard is Romans 13.1–7, which is interpreted so as to discourage Christians from pushing their governments to protect refugees and migrants. This is due both to the obedience demanded from Christians to the state and to the belief that state borders are an issue to be handled by the authorities concerned. But a theology of migration questions such attitudes and invites Christians to persuade the state to protect the vulnerable. ²⁷ As one theologian of migration says ‘although some argue that combining theology and migration mixes politics with religion, and others that migration falls more to the domain of social science than theological reflection, migration touches so many aspects of life and society that it cannot be hermeneutically compartmentalized.’ ²⁸ What we need is a participatory civil society that keeps the state accountable and humane. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s recent public recommendation of an Iraqi refugee for asylum in the United Kingdom is a case in point. ²⁹

Theology of migration and theology of religions

Bringing migration into the centre of theological attention also challenges the way we do theology of religions, or specifically dialogue between religions. ³⁰ In other words, a theology of migration will seriously influence the way theology of religions is being constructed, developed and articulated, especially in the Western context. Theologies of religions have focused on relations between religions, paving the way for interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Originally, a Eurocentric construction during the colonial period, theology of religions (or religious pluralism) was developed as European travellers, missionaries, orientalists and settlers came into contact with other parts of the world. Predominantly based on their interest in other cultures and on the category of ‘world religions’ and religious–secular distinctions, theology of religions has helped make friendships and relationships and at the same time stereotypes as well.

Today dealing with people following other religions is important for Christians in the West, not simply because the latter are ‘interested’ in other religions, but because it has become a reality. In addition, their conceptualization and definitions with regard to religious pluralism or world religions are increasingly meeting with challenges because it is primarily migrants and their religions, traditions and cultures along with their migration experiences that are becoming central in theology of religions. ³¹ Therefore, the questions that dominated traditional theologies of religions (such as universalism, absolutism, etc.) are replaced with questions like ‘what is the face of a Christian theology that takes into account the new or more pronounced issues and questions put forward by migrants’ experience and practice of religion? … what are the areas in Christian theology that needs re-elaboration, re-definition, and re-orientation if it is to dialogue with migrant religion?’ ³²

A migration theology of religions will pose challenges to multiculturalism in the West, which has been developed from a Eurocentric view. Multiculturalism does allow a space for another religion, tradition and culture, but not necessarily assuring an organic relationship and interactions between them. In the context of migration, some theologians prefer the term ‘intercultural’, because it conveys that the relationship is mutual, and they have used intercultural methods to talk about the reality of multiple religions. ³³ The mutuality involved in migration is crucial for theology of religions; the newcomers are not just adding one more, but their presence is important for interaction and mutual benefit.

A migration theology of religions can also challenge Christians to be self-critical. While those among Christians developing theologies of religions are genuinely interested in other religions and are committed to their own, nevertheless, uncritical use of world-religion categories has also caused many stereotypes in the modern world. It presents the world as if it completely functions on the religious identities of the people, and the multiple identities of people are neglected. Most importantly, the treatment of Islam as a homogeneous entity reduced to terrorism and radicalism is partly due to a naive theology of religions developed in the Christian world. In other words, those Christians involved in theology of religions and interreligious dialogue often embrace the notion of ‘a religiously divided world’. However, migrants do not come to the ‘table’ of interreligious dialogue solely as religious people, but as people with multiple identities and worldviews.

Conclusion

In the light of the ongoing efforts to develop a theology (or theologies) of migration, this article has attempted to argue for the necessity of such movement and has thrown some light, very generally and briefly, on how a theology of migration may influence theologizing in some areas. Liberation theology has a lot to offer for constructing theologies that keep migration and migrant experience at the centre of theological articulation, and its potential should be continually explored. A theology of migration does not develop a new or additional stream in theology, but attempts to interpret foundational Christian beliefs in light of the reality of migration. It challenges and enhances theologizing in the area of Christian public engagement to overcome the religious–secular divide in order to persuade states to protect refugees. It scrutinizes current forms of interreligious dialogue and can take it to newer levels where the different religious traditions of migrants and their multiple identities become crucial for mutual interactions and relations between natives and refugees, and can draw impetus from such associations for fighting the various inhumane factors that cause forced migrations.