In the News: Europe makes more room for refugees and Christians are welcoming the stranger

1 minute read

It has been a couple of weeks since I said anything about the refugee crisis in Europe, so I thought I would point out a couple of articles today.

BBC: Migrant crisis: Thousands of new reception places agreed

First, the BBC reported this morning that, “Another 100,000 spaces in refugee reception centres will be created under a deal agreed by European leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels.” This is a big step, at least on paper, to making space for the flood of migrants streaming into Europe. Note that these are spaces in refugee reception centers. This does not guarantee asylum or admittance overall, but it does promise increased space for processing refugees.

A couple of things to note from the article:

The total number appears to be over 650,000 already for the year. “More than 650,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived by sea so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), but exact numbers are unclear.”
The number of incoming migrants is getting larger, not smaller. “More than 9,000 migrants arrived in Greece every day last week, the highest rate so far this year.”
The vast majority come from Syria, but it is not the only place.

Check out the article here: Migrant crisis: Thousands of new reception places agreed

Wall Street Journal: Muslim Migrants, Meet Christian Gypsies

This article from last week was a bright spot for me. In the face of this refugee crisis, here is a story that should bring hope to Christians and remind us afresh of a correct response to the marginalized.

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As Europe grapples with the biggest population shift since World War II, many have reacted with fear, warning of threats to European culture and the Islamification of the continent. Croatia’s small but growing Roma Christian community, however, has embraced this development, with believers like Ms. Nikolić enthusiastically volunteering to help Muslim newcomers. Many Roma Christians are too impoverished to dream of working abroad as a missionary—but now, they say, the mission field has come to them.

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And I’ll leave one more pull quote as a simple reminder of the impact of international missions: “Missionaries from America and Europe have played a role in beginning this movement in Croatia.”

Definitely give this one a read: Muslim Migrants, Meet Christian Gypsies