I have attended all 4 public panel debates centering around the challenges that migrants face, community responses, how integration affects identity and the intercepts with religion. A common issue that kept occurring, is how we define “migration”. There are different categories represented in media and politics, that each evoke a different response; is it the rich ‘expat’, the struggling refugee, the so-called guest worker? – With whom in mind have we voted to make migration laws stricter and stricter in European societies? 

The discussions provoked the audience of the panels to consider how different layers of identity play together in how we treat people with migrant background in hosting societies. An obvious difference is made based on racism, which we cannot ignore. Racism affects how migrants are treated. As pointed out by panelists, a black or Middle Eastern migrant may quickly be judged and treated with suspicion. Contrasting these experiences of racism, I have personally been privileged as a white female student from Denmark to encounter positive responses to my background in the Netherlands. We must consider how these different experiences that a newcomer is met with, shapes their attitude and how much they want to participate in society . If a person is constantly confronted with “othering” experiences from mainstream society, why would they feel the need to accepting the other way around? 

Integration?

During the panels, we discussed different forms of community responses and how hosting societies manage integration. On an overall level, my take-away is that integration should be a two-way approach; the hosting society can have certain expectations of the migrant, but the migrant must feel welcomed, be allowed to participate and have a voice in society. Through successful integration, both sides will become something new. Looking at the political development in many European countries, I think we forget that integration is mutual, and that hosting societies cannot demand assimilation from people with migrant background in order to accept them.

Ethical Questions

All these debates on migration and the responses to it raise ethical questions: Who is entitled to peace and stability? Which responsibilities do European societies have to those seeking safety? From a theological perspective it was argued by panelists that the Bible preaches welcoming the stranger, showing hospitality, and “loving thy neighbour”. So how can “Judeo-Christian values” be used by right wing politicians to argue against the acceptance of migrants? Is rejection and building walls to keep out the oppressed, the persecuted, and the poor something we can accept from both a Christian and a secular ethical viewpoint? 

Religion in general plays a vital role in the migration experience, offering both support and challenges. Faith communities can provide a sense of belonging and cultural familiarity, which can ease transition into a new society. Simultaneously, belonging to a religion that parts of the hosting community do not accept, can make the migrant strengthen their ties to their own religious communities to seek belonging, which again may increase feelings of exclusion from mainstream society. This is why a mutual wish for integration is crucial, so both religious communities as well as other spaces for belonging in the hosting society, are possible. 

Migration is a multifaceted topic that challenges societies to balance stability, identity, ethics and humanitarian responsibilities. While the current political discourses in Europe seem to fuel division, faith communities and grassroot initiatives show that migration can also foster social cohesion. Based on the panel discussions, successful integration requires mutual understanding, meaningful participation, and recognizing migrants as individuals with agency rather than generalizing stereotypes and silencing their experiences. This places us with an ethical responsibility of how we treat people with migrant background, both in the political sphere and in everyday life.

Written by: Ida Krake, Student of the course “Peace Theology and Ethics”