From the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA)

Let us pray and work that we will be found as the ones who have cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner (Matthew 25).

2021. It is six years on from the launch of the European Evangelical Alliance’s Refugee Campaign.

2021. This year, European Union member states are supposed to have agreed a new migration and asylum pact to             enable better, fairer, more efficient collaboration to handle the migrants, asylum seekers and refugees who come to the EU.  The migration pact is a long way from being concluded.

2021. Already, more than a 1000 people have drowned in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean with the hope of building a new life in Europe.

2021. The political, social and economic catastrophe in Afghanistan is likely to lead to hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing the nation.

In 2015, Europe was confronted with a massive influx of migrants and refugees. This was first and foremost a humanitarian crisis but also a political crisis. Thousands lost their lives in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, while politicians were having endless meetings over responsibility and the right response. Several years later, the numbers of people arriving irregularly in Europe have gone down significantly but the political debate on responsibilities and right action is far from over. This raises questions about what drives us and our decisions: fear, avoidance, love, compassion, justice and/or perspective for a good future of all?

All human beings are created in the image of God and, therefore, are of inherent value and worth regardless the place they were born and the religion or belief they adhere to. Therefore, all migrants and refugees should be treated with compassion, dignity and grace, regardless whether they will be allowed to stay or eventually will be returned to their country of origin.

EEA is deeply worried about what some of Europe’s response to refugees says about the societies that we have become and where we, as well as the refugees themselves, could end up. It is often said that we must uphold European values and not allow foreigners to change us. But what has happened to our European values of hospitality, solidarity and compassion? Every human life is sacred. We cannot allow this belief to be downgraded in importance. We cannot allow the suffering of people to become the accepted norm and for the refugee situation only to be featured in the news when yet another big tragedy happens or our nations perceive a new threat.

The EEA has decided to issue a new Call to Action on migration.

• Urging governments to remember humanitarian values (most based on the bible),
• Calling Christians to pray and to speak up,
• Thanking its members for all their efforts to care for migrants and refugees and to persevere.

More: Link to the full Call to Action can be found here.