Responding to Britain’s mass immigration surge

Clifford Hill considers the pros and cons of the refugee crisis.

We've got people drowning in their hundreds in the Mediterranean, trying to cross the sea to the overcrowded island of Lesbos; families dying of thirst in Serbian forests; children suffocating in lorries; thousands crowding into trains and buses or walking along highways in search of refuge – but what is Europe's response? According to Libby Purves in The Times, "razor wire and bickering over quotas" (02/09/15).

EU Leaders Unprepared

The migrant crisis continues to occupy centre stage in our daily news. EU officials in Brussels struggle to find some common ground in a policy to deal with what appears to be an unstoppable flow of migrants into Europe.

On 14 September EU ministers will hold an emergency meeting to try to work out an acceptable deal, although eastern European countries are expected to resist any attempt to enforce a quota system. The sheer numbers involved and the speed with which the crisis has gathered momentum over the summer months has caught EU leaders unprepared despite the warning signs being there for the past two or three years.

CompassionPeople organize aid in Erfurt, Germany. Jens Meyer/AP/PA Images

Several good things have emerged in the midst of the crisis; notably the compassion shown by countless individuals offering to open their homes to families escaping from war zones. It is not only in Britain where such compassion is being shown but in many other Western European nations too, such as Iceland where 10,000 families have announced willingness to take Syrian refugees into their homes.

Germany says they are willing to take 800,000 asylum seekers this year with Angela Merkel leading the way by saying that all Syrian refugees would be eligible for asylum in Germany. But Hungary and Austria have accused Berlin of increasing the chaos as human trafficking continues to pour thousands of migrants into the continent – an unknown mixture of genuine refugees, workers seeking a better living and possibly jihadists seeking opportunities of destruction.

Several good things have come out of the crisis – notably the compassion being shown by countless individuals across Europe in welcoming the refugees. But with the compassion is considerable fear and uncertainty.

HamburgFinding a Solution

It is this unknown mixture that causes fear and uncertainty in dealing with such large numbers. Britain has said that we will take 20,000 refugees from Syria while arguing that the major effort to deal with the situation should be to pour resources into the area immediately surrounding the war zone and to seek a United Nations policy on finding a solution to the civil war in Syria and defeating the Islamic State.

This is arguably the only way to defeat the people traffickers who exploit the plight of those fleeing the conflict and are stoking a never-ending flow into Europe. It is also the most sensible solution for the refugees themselves to remain in a largely Arabic culture rather than try to adjust to an alien Western environment. For those who do come to Europe there needs to be a radical change from the policy we have followed in Britain for the past 50 years in giving migrants no assistance in settling into a new environment.

Acculturating New Arrivals

If we had followed America's example in acculturating new arrivals we would not have the problems we have today in some of our cities where immigrants have formed close-knit communities with no attempt to integrate into British society and no love for their adopted country. With the new arrivals from Syria, even if they come from Christian communities, we should insist that they attend induction classes where they learn the history of Britain and the basis of our legal and cultural heritage.

For Muslims it is even more necessary that they should understand the elements of Christianity that are interwoven into our culture and social structure. We have neglected this at our cost and if we allow large numbers to swell the Muslim population in Britain without any understanding of our Christian heritage we will do so at our peril. We will be creating a community of disaffected young men alienated from British society - with all the dangerous potential this brings.

If we allow large numbers to swell the Muslim population in Britain without any understanding of our Christian heritage, we will do so at our peril.

Biblical Principles

There are good biblical principles to support a policy of teaching our culture and heritage to newcomers. When Israel entered the Promised Land they were instructed to show compassion and care for the aliens among them, but they were strictly warned against being influenced by their gods:

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. (Deut 10:18-19)

In the Promised Land, Israel was instructed to show compassion and care to foreigners, but warned against being influenced by their gods.

Christians need to take seriously the words of Jesus that there is no other way to the Father except through him (John 14:6), which gives us an obligation to share the Truth with others. We have already made huge mistakes in our immigration policy by neglecting to share our faith with those we have allowed to settle in our country. We need to make sure that we don't continue to make that mistake with this new group of immigrants. Where there is a serious attempt to do this as in the City of Leicester, through a combined churches outreach, it is making a remarkable difference to community relationships.