At least 79.5 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. This figure includes almost 26 million refugees.

In recent years, the refugee migration of people from Syria and the Middle East was of a scale not seen in Europe since the aftermath of WW2. In recent months, that has been surpassed through the war in Ukraine. Although migration in general was a major issue in Britain in the lead up to Brexit, the issue for asylum seekers has arisen recently in new government proposals.

According to the United Nations, as of 25 April 2022, more than 11 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since the conflict began. As well as the 5.2 million who have left for neighbouring countries (the majority of 2.9 million fleeing to Poland, but then moving elsewhere in Europe within the visa-free Schengen Region), another 6.5 million people are thought to be displaced within the war-torn country.

In countries bordering Ukraine, refugees can stay in reception centres if they can't stay with friends or relatives. They are given food and medical care, and information about onward travel. The EU has granted Ukrainians who flee the war a blanket right to stay and work for up to three years, throughout its 27 member nations. They will also receive social welfare and access to housing, medical treatment and schools.

Internationally, many other countries, including New Zealand, have intentionally responded to this crisis through their own immigration and refugee schemes.

Numerous churches across denominations, and other faiths, have responded to support refugees across the continent. Besides physical and housing needs, the spiritual and psychological support offered through faith networks has been crucial.

The Joint Public Issues Team (a UK Methodist, Baptist and Reformed ecumenical body) observes, “In the face of the large number of refugees currently displaced, our Christian understanding that we all have a common identity in God is as important as ever. We have a key role to play in highlighting the ongoing plight of refugees and displaced people and must affirm a human response to the crisis.”

These issues and the plight of refugees has been further highlighted in the United Kingdom through its Government’s new proposal for asylum seekers. The Nationality and Borders Bill is acknowledged for increasing punishment for people smugglers and gangs who facilitate people smuggling. It is however critiqued for a proposed change towards a two-tier system for asylum seekers based on the route via which someone arrives in the UK - people arriving via an ‘irregular’ route (e.g. a channel crossing) will be sent to a ‘safe’ country, or granted only temporary permission to stay in the UK.

In particular, the Government has been criticised for ‘reinstating deportation’ through a plan to offshore asylum seekers to Rwanda, a country which the UK has previously criticised for holding a poor record on human rights. The proposal is considered more extensive than the “offshoring” used by Australia.

In his Easter Day sermon, Archbishop Welby said that the plan raised “serious ethical questions”, branding the plan the “opposite of the nature of God”. His concerns were echoed by other faith leaders, who agreed that the UK should not shift their international obligation to receive refugees and transfer them to third countries. “The Rwanda policy is summary punishment for something that is not a crime. It would likely be a breach of the right to life, the right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment.”

Rev Sonia Hicks, President of the Methodist Church of Britain, joined other leaders on a protest boat sailing the River Thames alongside the Houses of Parliament, as a message to MPs. In a statement by Hicks and the MCB Vice President, said: “The Government’s plans to offshore asylum-seekers in Rwanda gives yet another insight into its hostile, uncompassionate and ineffective response to asylum-seekers and refugees.” Further, “As we have seen in Ukraine, conflict and persecution can become a daily reality at a distressingly rapid pace.”

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was quoted as accusing the Archbishop of Canterbury and other senior clergy of misconstruing the Government’s proposal to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda for processing and resettlement. Questions were raised elsewhere of the church ‘interfering’ in politics. Nevertheless, faith leaders have responded with critique and constructive proposals for revision; in the public sphere, in submissions, and by Lords Spiritual within the House of Lords.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. – Matthew 25: 35-36