Where are the welcome signs?

Like most people around the world who saw the picture of Aylan Kurdi, the three year old whose body washed up on the beach in Turkey, I was very disturbed, haunted by how small and helpless he was. Aylan died along with his 5 year old brother and his mother, and scores of other refugees who remain nameless to us, while trying to get from war torn Syria to prosperous Europe. In his immediate family, only Aylan’s father survived, and he has gone back to Syria vowing, to stay beside the graves of his family until he dies. He believes there is no longer any future for him.

The picture of Aylan’s body went viral on the web, moving people of compassion to reach out to assist the migrants as nothing else has been able to do. Some people felt the publication of the picture was wrong as if it was taken only to capitalize on the death of a child. But until the photograph was widely seen, most of the very vocal people in Europe seemed to be those who were anti-immigrant.

According to a recent online news story, hostility toward refugees from local people is grounded in fear. People are afraid that the migrants will endanger the cultural and social ethos of Europe because the migrants are not Christian Europeans. Yet in Christian churches today congregations listened to readings that highlight Jesus' call for an inclusive community, a community where all are welcome, where healing and hope are for everyone regardless of ethnicity, creed, economic status or other characteristics that marginalize or mark people as outcast. Of the recent refugees, a large number are coming from Syria, a land where Jesus traveled, healing and teaching people, while working to form an inclusive community. 

During the period right after WWII when cities in Europe needed rebuilding, there was a labor shortage so immigrants were welcomed with open arms. Of course, at that time the immigrants were mostly European. This time people are afraid because the refugees are Congolese, Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Malian. People are afraid that their governments and their way of life will change because of the influence of the newcomers on local politics.

The people who are migrating however, are not arriving intent on changing Europe. They are attracted to Europe because they see stability and a chance for a better life for themselves and their families. They are coming at huge cost and taking enormous risks. They pay exorbitant amounts of money to ride in overloaded boats from Turkey to Greece. Once they land they have to come up with more money to pay smugglers to guide them through the back country through Macedonia and Serbia before reaching Hungary with the goal of gaining entrance to Germany through Austria.

It is a long arduous journey on foot that can take weeks traveling in all sorts of weather with little food, water and rest to sustain them along the way. But, for the migrants, the journey to Germany and other prosperous western nations is a voyage of hope.

What compels these people to take such risks with their lives and the lives of their children? In Syria there is a brutal civil war that has been raging since 2011. But behind that war is another disaster – which should be no surprise since Pope Francis and others tell us repeatedly that everything is connected.

In an online article by Michael Casey, CBS News March 2, 2015, 3:02 PM I learned that from 2006-2010 a record drought caused by a changing climate exacerbated by human activity, ravaged Syria. It destroyed agriculture in the breadbasket region of northern Syria causing the cost of livestock feed to increase by 75% while killing nearly all the herds. Without the ability to earn a living, farmers fled with their families to cities, where poverty, government mismanagement and other factors created unrest that exploded in the spring 2011. 

 

Since this is Labor Day weekend, I want to emphasis that having basic needs met, including the need for good work, the kind that allows a family to survive, is a human right. Without water the crops of even subsistence farmers failed. The only reasonable, responsible thing for a farmer to do, especially with a family to care for, was to seek work elsewhere. In the cities the only available work for many men was to join the army… something that happens in poor areas of our country as well.

Writing in Laudato Si” #25 Pope Francis has this to say: "Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry. They have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters, and their access to social services and protection is very limited. For example, changes in climate, to which animals and plants cannot adapt, lead them to migrate; this in turn affects the livelihood of the poor, who are then forced to leave their homes, with great uncertainty for their future and that of their children. There has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation. They are not recognized by international conventions as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind, without enjoying any legal protection whatsoever. Sadly, there is widespread indifference to such suffering, which is even now taking place throughout our world. Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded."

We are not in Europe but we do have migrants coming from the south and they come for similar reasons. I am sure that there are Europeans who have looked askance at some of this nation's immigration policies – the ones that send unaccompanied children trying to reconnect with family or relatives in a safe environment back to wherever they came from, policies that separate families for years, policies that are protectionist in the extreme or make all migrants out as criminals. And now some might want to look askance at the policies in Europe. But none of us have any place judging the other. 

Hungary is working to build a 100 mile wall along its border to stop the entrance of refugees from Serbia but there are some in this country who would like to build a 2000+ mile wall all across the southern border. In Germany, the neo-Nazi’s are on the rise. In our country the language against immigrants can be equally as tough. We don’t have a single picture to ignite our compassion, but there are many stories of relatives from families in our midst who lost their lives seeking a better life in the states.  

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. My ancestors came here seeking a better life. When the land will no longer support a people, then they must be allowed to go where they can survive. In the affluent part of the world it is important to remember that the wealth we have has come from many different parts of the world and our way of life has at times contributed to the shifting of weather patterns and the subsequent unrest and need for migration. The least we can do is to welcome those who come to us, desperately seeking their fair share of the world's resources.