Change Can Be a Good Thing

By Fr David Holdcroft SJ – The levels of migration out of the Middle East into Europe and elsewhere has achieved what many years of work by communications and advocacy departments had failed to do: it has placed the issue of migration squarely onto the front pages of newspapers and into the minds of most people.

This point was made last year, by way of a quip, by Antonio Guiterrez, outgoing commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

At the same time a handful politicians and leaders generally have used the situation to incite fear and to boost wall-building as a solution to stop such people movements.

More widely governments are interpreting people movements in terms of a threat to security — both in terms of the possibility of criminals or terrorists entering countries but more widely the possible change that new people with different customs or religions might bring to a country.

Any movement of people brings with it both opportunity and also risk, but it will always bring change. All change is potentially threatening but, often when seen in hindsight, can be ultimately beneficial.

Countries have a right to control movement across their borders; this is a key function of government on which it will be judged. However, this right is not absolute.

In 2008, South Africa took a principled decision to admit Zimbabweans who were fleeing the economic collapse of their country. The government realised that there are occasionally humanitarian imperatives that outweigh other considerations.

In short, people have a right to migrate for their own safety and survival.

With all the talk about migration it was refreshing to see a statement by Brother Alois, the current prior of the ecumenical community at Taizé in southern France. In it, he speaks so sensibly and humanely about the current migration “crisis”.

“Around the world, women, men and children are forced to leave their homes. They are motivated by a distress that drives them to leave everything behind. This distress is stronger than any obstacles we can put in their way,” Brother Alois wrote.

“The great migratory movements which we are experiencing are inescapable. Pretending otherwise is extremely shortsighted. Looking for ways to regulate this flow is legitimate and even necessary, but wanting to stop it by building walls is useless. We cannot allow the rejection of foreigners to become engrained in us because refusing others is the seed of barbarism.

“The first step should be for wealthy countries to become fully aware that they are partially responsible for the wounds that have caused, and continue to cause, huge flows of migrants, namely from Africa and the Middle East,” he continued.

“The second step is to overcome their fear of foreigners and bravely start shaping the new face that these migrations are already bringing to our societies.

“Instead of seeing foreigners as a threat to our affluence or culture, we should welcome them as a member of humankind. …. People who knock at the door of countries richer than their own incite these countries to show their solidarity. Don’t they help provide these countries with new momentum?”

Brother Alois was, of course, speaking in the context of Europe, but these words clearly apply anywhere. We are being called deeper to the heart of our various faiths, all of which ask us to recognise that a person in distress as a sister or brother of my human family.

They have a call on us, for our solidarity. And we will eventually be judged by the manner by which we respond.

Fr David Holdcroft SJ is the regional director of Jesuit Refugee Service Southern Africa.