Columban competition on Migrants - Joint Third Place (2)

Eleanor Pap

Eleanor Pape, 16, Holy Cross High School, Chorley, Lancashire, won joint third place for her submission in the Columban writing competition. Her essay is entitled: Innocent immigrants forced to leave their war-torn homes

As the issue of migration continues to grow it is becoming ever more crucial to remember to 'love thy neighbour as yourself'.

What is our Christian responsibility?

In today's society the terms 'immigrant', 'refugee' and 'migrant' are often thrown around the media without anyone truly understanding their definition. This problem can often make it difficult to see the difference between people moving in order to boost their economic prospects compared with the vulnerable men, women and children forced to abandon everything due to conflict. These neglected, desperate and often fearful individuals are the people whom we are obliged to help the most. As Catholics, it is our moral duty to give aid to all those who are in need and this means that we cannot just ignore the increasing immigration issues; donations of money, food and clothing are all simple ways of addressing the problem yet when only 55% of the clergy and faith leaders have preached on immigration within the last 12 months (Embraceni) it is not surprising that people forget about those most in need. The solution to this is simple. If each and everyone one of us can raise awareness in our local area then maybe the 400,000 Syrian children currently outside the education system in Turkey alone can be educated (the Guardian), or the 27, 819 people imprisoned in immigration detention centres in Britain can finally find a place to call home (Refugee Council).

What is the Government's responsibility?

It is not only the lack of each individual's understanding, though, that continues to allow these disasters to occur. The government of the UK also holds some responsibility for allowing each immigrant's individuality to be washed away in the flood of refugees reaching Europe. As a nation we seem intent on seeing these people not as human beings but a problem that can just be ignored. It is not. Compared to our influence the UK itself doesn't do nearly enough to combat the crisis, handling only 4% of asylum applicants to the EU, yet still rejecting almost all of them (Huffington Post). To put this into perspective, in two weeks alone Uganda offered refuge to more people than Britain had all year (Refugee Council). Is this really the sort of attitude we should take when deciding the fate of fellow humans? Overall, though outwardly the UK has a very positive attitude towards welcoming 'The wearing traveller' (Pope Francis), in reality we have become extremely insular. Something has to be done to stop this!

What are the problems?

One convincing argument against supporting immigrants found lurking in almost every influential figure's mind, is the problem of terrorism. For every kind gesture made to help the grief-stricken migrants of Syria there is another terrorist attack in Europe, much closer to home. People worry that allowing more people to enter Britain will only increase the chance of illegal activity, as well as decreasing job opportunities and pay, yet there is strong evidence proving these hypothises wrong. If you only do a little research, it becomes very apparent that this immigration 'infection' more closely resembles a medicine. The UK in particular has need of willing workers in many large businesses such as the NHS. One in seven UK companies were actually set up by migrants (Huffington Post), an impressive number compared to the number actually permitted to live here. But what about the ever-present acts of terrorism I mentioned earlier? Although still a pressing issue it can be argued that terrorists can find any number of ways to sneak into Europe and won't rely on acting as refugees to commit their illegal acts. Why should we allow the unforgivable acts of some to further wreck people's lives?

What do we have in common?

Finally, it is important to mention how similar we are to these people. There are many of us who have risked a great deal to escape situations where we feel we are being misused - bullying, abusive relations and being mistreated at work are all examples of this. Such experiences help to give us something in common with the refugees of Syria and other war-stricken places. Remember the distressing image of a lifeless three-year-old boy washed ashore on a Turkish beach? Alan Kurdi, along with his mother and brother, never made it to Europe - like countless others, unacknowledged, just a face in the crowd fleeing from the devastation in Syria. Stories such as these help us to understand that we all have problems but some are much worse than others and it is our Christian obligation to help those who are most vulnerable.

We need to stop seeing migrants as a threat or a problem to overcome but human beings like ourselves. 'Every migrant is a human being' (Pope Benedict XVI)