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Migration as a Challenge for Theological Ethics

The movement of massive numbers of people across national borders is one of the defining characteristics of the world today. In 2010 over 214 million people were living outside of the country in which they had been born. More than half of these people had migrated to the high income countries of North America and Europe. Most moved voluntarily in pursuit of a better life for themselves and their children. But a remarkably large number were driven from their homes involuntarily, including over 15 million refugees fleeing persecution and war across national borders, plus more than twice as many internally displaced within their own countries. Dire consequences of climate change threaten even greater displacement in the years ahead. It is not surprising, therefore, that a major social-scientific study calls our epoch The Age of Migration.2 In the same vein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees foresees a future marked by people being pushed and pulled across borders and within their own countries by conflict, calamity and opportunity. This mass movement of people is one aspect of the growing phenomenon of globalization. It brings both benefit and great harm to vast numbers of people. The reality of people on the move, therefore, cries out for serious assessment from the perspective of both theology and ethics.