The Christian response to small boats
The Bibby Stockholm Barge
AKA tackling Bibby Stockholm syndrome.
It may have passed you by, but this week is the UK Government’s Small Boat Week! I know! It seems to come around quicker every year doesn’t it? I hope you remembered to leave a pork pie and small glass of ale under the tree for Nigel Farage. “He’s been! He’s been!”
This week’s “festivities” saw 15 people loaded on to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, before being taken off again due to the presence of legionnaires disease. The “plague barge”, owned by Bibby Maritime, who’s founder John Bibby has well documented links to the slave trade (of course), was previously used to house asylum seekers in Germany and the Netherlands before being dragged to the UK. It was expected to house over 500 souls when at full capacity.
The barge is just the latest in a series of performatively cruel manoeuvres by the UK government to deter people from trying to seek safety in the UK. Others in recent history include the creation of wave machines, forming an impenetrable boat barrier, armoured jet skis, or housing people in army barracks, remote islands, and then of course shipping them off to Rwanda - a plan which Archbishop Justin Welby described as “depressing”, “distressing” and “ungodly” earlier this year…
“There are serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers overseas… It cannot carry the weight of the resurrection that was revealed first to the least valued, for as a policy it privileges the rich and the strong” – Justin Welby
But on the other hand, card carrying catholic and cosplay Victorian Workhouse owner Jacob Rees-Mogg said that forcing desperate asylum seekers to be placed in Rwandan facilities represented “almost an Easter story of redemption” for the war torn nation.
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
All of which got me pondering what UK Christian attitudes are to the small boat crisis…
There is limited information available - a recent survey on behalf of the Migration Observatory suggests that as a nation the UK is divided, with 33% of respondents thinking that immigration is “bad or very bad”, 31% think “good or very good” and the remainder not having an opinion. Digging into the numbers a little more reveals that opinions differ widely based on political affiliation, with 12% of Liberal Democrats in the “bad or very bad” camp, 20% of Labour voters and a whopping 52% of Conservative party members.
Obviously not all Christians vote Conservative, but my own experience and the work of UK Universities suggests a heavy overlap in that particular venn diagram. Other studies show that around 60% of Anglicans voted Leave in the EU referendum, with the campaigns promise to take back control of our borders.
Seeing the face of Jesus in every migrant
I find it hard to believe that anyone would risk their life getting into the water, unless they think it is safer than staying on land. Many of these people are genuine refugees fleeing genuine persecution in genuine war zones. Nearly two-thirds of people who migrate to the UK in small boats ultimately have their asylum claims accepted.
“People who have escaped terror and torture, endured criminal exploitation and traumatic journeys should be treated with basic human dignity, not corralled on barges or other grossly inadequate and isolated accommodation,” - Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International
As Christians we are called to see the face of Jesus in every single person that washes up on our shores and should respond accordingly.
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35&40)
While the bible doesn’t reference refugees directly it is littered with references to helping strangers (Hebrews 13:2) and foreigners (Leviticus 19:34) and neighbours (Mark 12:31) and sojourners (Zechariah 7:10) and the oppressed (Psalm 146:7) and orphans (Isaiah 1:17)… If you are inclined to take any verses in the Bible literally, I’d maybe focus on these rather than on the ones about talking snakes and big fish.
And let’s not forget that Jesus himself was a refugee, fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath (Matthew 2:13).
And what does the Lord require of you?
The truth is it’s easier to have a faith that is focussed on personal salvation, to treat Jesus as a one-way ticket to heaven rather than doing the heavy work of following him to the margins – to feed the hungry, care for the sick, forgive debts and welcome the stranger.
But that is where Jesus is; helping the desperate to clamber out of boats as they reach our shores, giving strength to the lifeboat crews trying to save people from drowning, and weeping for the child that didn’t make it.
That is where Jesus is, that’s the Kingdom come.
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Ironic Footnote: Incidentally, for any fans of when the Church of England was historically on the side of the oppressors, rather than the oppressed, you can visit a memorial to Slave Trader John Bibby in All Hallows Church in Allerton… if you are in the area why not go and pay your respects to “his high character as a merchant” and “the valuable services rendered by him“
John Bibby - Slave Trader and founder of the Bibby Line Shipping Group
By Rodhullandemu - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62424675