#RwandaNotInMyName

Last Sunday morning (12^th June 2022) I listened as usual to the “Sunday” programme on BBC Radio 4. It is a programme that “looks at the ethical and religious issues of the week”.

This edition featured a report on the Government’s plan to deport refugees / asylum seekers to Rwanda. There were two speakers. One a Jewish woman who was opposed to the idea. (I can’t think why a Jewish person would be opposed to the forced deportation of people. It’s not as if it’s ever happened before.) And former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe who is a Roman Catholic.

I was appalled at what Ann Widdecombe had to say. She fiercely defended the government’s policy. On the grounds that it was morally right to stop refugees coming across the English Channel in small boats for their safety. Also, that it would send a strong message to the people traffickers and would ensure they stopped people smuggling.

On Sunday I sent a Tweet to this effect. At the time of writing, it’s been liked by over 9,000 and retweeted by 1,750 people. (See picture above)

The issue of refugees / asylum seekers is hugely complex. I freely admit that I don’t understand all the international law requirements. And yes, I do see the argument that if refuges are in a safe country (usually France) why would they want to come on to this country?

As I understand it though this country has a legal obligation to accept a number of asylum seekers. An obligation under international law.

I fail to see how this measure would stop ruthless criminal gangs. “Sorry mate. We can’t get you to the UK after all as much as we’d like to. They’ll send you on to Rwanda now. That’s not right is it? I can do you France or Germany instead. How’s that suit you?”

There is also the fact that a proportion of those seeking safety here are fleeing countries where the UK has had involvement in war such as Afghanistan.

But what really riled me was Miss Widecombe’s riding rough shod over any morality founded on the Christian faith. It’s a bit of a cliché to say, “What Would Jesus Do?” Nevertheless, there are plenty of Jesus’ teachings that suggest that he would oppose this horrid treatment of asylum seekers.

Matthew 25: 31 – 46 in which Jesus makes clear that when we are caring for the most vulnerable it is as if we are doing it for him.

Luke 10: 25 – 37 – the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

In the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) there are also examples of caring for the stranger and foreigner. They included provisions for them to be treated equally under the law and to be included in festivals and celebrations of the community.

• Cities of refuge were available to Israelites and foreigners in cases of accidental murder (Numbers 35:15).
• Foreigners were to be included in festivals and celebrations mandated in the Law (Deuteronomy 16:14; 26:11).
• Some of the tithe collected by the priests was to be used to not only feed them and their families, but also to help provide food for foreigners, widows, and orphans (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
• Also, farmers were instructed to leave the gleanings of their fields for the poor and the foreigner (Leviticus 23:22). And to treat the stranger as they would the poor among the Israelites (Leviticus 25:35)

See the World Vision web site “What does the Bible say about refugees?”

https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/what-does-bible-say-about-refugees#:~:text=Foreigners%20were%20to%20be%20included,14%3A28%2D29

And for me one Bible text above other demonstrates how all believers are to show hospitality to strangers.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2

The enforced deportation of vulnerable people to Rwanda is immoral. It must be opposed. Something the President of the Methodist Conference Revd Sonia Hicks called for back in April

https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/news/latest-news/all-news/response-to-the-government-s-plans-to-offshore-asylum-seekers-in-rwanda/

And I am pleased that in a letter to The Times, today (14^th June 2022) the archbishops of Canterbury and York, plus the other 23 bishops in the House of Lords, said the controversial move “should shame us as a nation”.

Albert Einstein, slowly watched his homeland give in to Adolf Hitler's fascist dictatorship. Einstein wondered if any were going to stand up and oppose Hitler. He said, and I quote, "When Hitlerism came to Germany I expected the Universities to oppose it. Instead they embraced it. I hoped for the press to denounce it, but instead they propagated its teachings. One by one the leaders and institutions which should have opposed the Nazi philosophy bowed meekly to its authority. Only one institution met it with vigorous opposition and that was the Christian Church."

(In actual fact not all the Christian Church in Nazi Germany did stand up to Hitler. It was only part of the church - that came to be known as "the Confessing Church" that had the courage to do so.)

Einstein confessed, "That which I once despised, I now love with a passion I cannot describe." The commitment of the Confessing Church in standing against evil made a profound impression upon Albert Einstein. Those individuals in the 1930s understood the cost associated with their actions, and they did not back down. The Church today can do no less.

#RwandaNotInMyName