Issue 30 Welcome the StrangerBlog | Welcoming strangers
Welcoming strangers
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 20.03.22
Many factors lead to human migration including those that are political (war, oppression), economic (poverty, hopes for a better life) and social (family ties, freedom of expression). However, environmental factors are the fastest growing cause of migration today. Crop failure, flooding, drought, desertification, deforestation, sea-level rise, locust swarms, erosion and extreme weather events are just some of the drivers.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) predicts that, ‘By 2050, climate change is estimated to create up to 86 million additional migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, 40 million in South Asia and 17 million in Latin America as agricultural conditions and water availability deteriorate across these regions.’ Disturbingly, the IEP report continues, ‘The effects of ecological degradation may make these numbers higher.’1
The Bible repeatedly affirms that welcoming ‘strangers’ (refugees, migrants, asylum seekers) is at the heart of our response to God. From Exodus 22-23, where the Israelites are reminded that they were once ‘sojourners’ in Egypt, to Isaiah 58’s challenge that true fasting is seen in justice for the ‘poor wanderer’, to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 that in welcoming strangers we welcome him, this is something very close to God’s heart.
Yet today we see another problem, unknown in biblical times, because it is our own lifestyles and choices that indirectly drive global migration. Climate change, fed by the massive overuse and waste of resources in rich countries, is a problem most migrants have done little to cause and yet suffer most from. Driven from all they hold most dear, they take drastic risks in seeking a future and a hope.
