The immigration debate can be unpleasant. Christians must be compassionate

One million people have been displaced from their homes in southern Lebanon as Israel carries out air strikes against Hezbollah. These include many Syrian refugees who had previously fled to Lebanon to escape their own civil war. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 100,000 people have now crossed into Syria. 

Meanwhile, in the Austrian elections, the far-right Freedom Party has won the most seats, in the latest in a series of victories for national populist anti-immigration parties across Europe.  

Closer to home, immigration is also dominating the Conservative leadership contest. Kemi Badenoch has warned that some immigrants will not share British values, and Robert Jenrick has called for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to make it easier to turn migrants away. 

Decreasing dehumanisation 

These issues remind us that mass migration is a major concern across the world. As conflicts escalate, more people are being uprooted from their homes and are forced to seek somewhere safe to settle. 

I am vocal on this issue because there is so much unpleasantness in the debate that we can easily forget that migrants and refugees are human beings just like us. Terms such as ‘illegals’ and ‘invaders’ dismiss and dehumanise them, creating the impression of hordes of dangerous criminals swarming onto our shores.  

Stamping out the gangs does not simply remove the demand 

In fact, many are fleeing from war, persecution and other horrors that we are deeply fortunate not to experience in the UK.  Who does not want a secure home where we can live without fear? 

Of course, nobody is suggesting that we simply fling open our borders to all-comers. But it’s clear that this is a fluid situation requiring international co-operation. As Christians, we need to make sure that we always consider refugees with compassion and humanity. 

Desperate measures 

Keir Starmer has been speaking with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni about her policy of making deals with countries that migrants travel through, such as Libya and Tunisia, to stop them reaching Europe.  But reducing the number of people arriving on Italian shores does not mean the refugees simply disappear.  

Instead, many report kidnap, rape, arbitrary detention and other abusive treatment during their arduous journeys through these areas. So, we need to be very concerned about the human consequences of any agreements the UK makes.  

I support the PM’s desire to stop criminal gangs profiteering from the plight of desperate migrants. But stamping out the gangs does not simply remove the demand from people who are fleeing persecution.  

Desperate people will still attempt to reach Britain and other malign actors will step in to offer even more dangerous options.  There is no silver bullet to stop channel crossings – and I doubt we ever will completely – but we also have to consider the reasons why smugglers have become an integral part of the way asylum seekers reach the UK.  

Fixing the system 

People fleeing for their lives will travel however they can. With no legal routes to get to the UK and seek asylum, they will pay a smuggler. I believe we should be offering safe, legal routes for certain groups of people. This means we have control over the numbers, can prepare for their arrival, and the gangs will lose custom.  

We can easily forget that migrants and refugees are human beings just like us 

Alongside this we need a functioning asylum system which can process applicants quickly. This will act as a deterrent to those who should not be here and ensure that people are not put up in hotels for months at a time, banned from working, claiming benefits or having any sort of a life. Mental health issues and suicide attempts are alarmingly high among those who are simply left in limbo. We should humanely return those who do not have genuine claims, and welcome and integrate those who do. 

We should also allow ourselves some perspective. Not everyone is trying to reach the UK. Eighty-five per cent of refugees settle in the country next to the one they leave. The French take three times more refugees than we do. And recent research suggests that more than half of refugees are Christians. 

Most importantly, we need to think of asylum seekers as God’s image bearers. Let’s remember the many exhortations in the Bible, such as Leviticus 19:34, to treat “the foreigner residing among you” as “your native-born” and to “love them as yourself.”  

This means we must reject any language or approach that treats migrants as objects, vermin or invaders. Even though we will never know most of their names, we do know that they are loved by God so much that he died for each one of them.