As we look at the realities of migration, and at the news stories which depict them, we can start by asking questions that allow us to contemplate the possibilities of grace.

by Tyler Horton

27 August 2025

When you read this BBC headline and look at the accompanying image, what do you see?

It isn’t just a question of the words that are used (“angry…wave…asylum…”) or the things that are depicted (flag-wearing protestor, arm raised, coloured smoke flare). What realities does this point toward? What does this say about the world we live in?

I suspect that what most of us see is a problem, or more accurately, a whole set of problems. I also suspect that what we feel is mostly concern and discouragement.

There are at least two good reasons to reflect on what we ‘see’ in a news story like this.

Think about what you see

The first, is that Christians are called to think about what we think. We are told to shift away from our limited vision toward the way that God sees. For example, Samuel is told not to use outward appearance as a guide for who should be king because “the LORD does not look at the things people look at” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV). Jesus similarly calls a crowd to “Stop judging by mere appearances” (John 7:24).

There is also a collection of passages in the New Testament which call us to address the way we think and see. Paul tells the Christians in Rome that the way to be transformed is by the renewing of their minds, and he calls them to think about themselves rightly (Romans 12:2-3; also compare 1 Corinthians 14:20; Philippians 4:8). All of this is part of how we fulfill the great commandment to love God with all our mind (Mark 12:30).

More and more migration

The second reason to reflect on what we see in this headline is that we are confronted by stories and images like this more and more frequently. Here in the UK, the story linked above was posted on a Saturday in the midst of a wave of protests at asylum hotels across the country. The story is a broader analysis of the issues, but in the two days after it went live, BBC News posted a report on the related protest in Bristol, another on the protest in Dorset, a story on over 400 migrants being brought to shore in Dover, a piece about visa changes disrupting the ability of London Tube staff to stay in the UK, and news about a policy update to fast-track the deportation of foreign nationals who commit crimes in the UK.

If the barrage of stories doesn’t impact you, the content will. Consider a few quotes from the first story I mentioned:

“We are not happy with these men in this hotel because we fear for our children,” Orla Minihane tells me. “If that makes me far-right then so be it.”

The latest round of demonstrations began at the 80-room Bell in July, after a man living in the hotel was arrested, and subsequently charged, with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

One of the asylum seekers says that living in a hotel room 24 hours a day is messing with his mind. When I ask about their dealings with the Home Office they hurry inside the Bell. Shortly afterwards a passing driver yells, “Burn it down.”

The Home Office has managed to cut the asylum claim backlog, currently standing at 79,000, but the claimants keep coming and the cost of accommodation is soaring. There is a feeling the government is struggling to cope and ignoring the view of communities.

Many are in agreement that having more than 200 hotels, full of asylum seekers often waiting for lengthy periods for decision on their applications, is not a sustainable situation.

It is one thing to identify where the problems are in all this, it is another matter to come up with solutions.

Which vulnerable ones are ‘ours’?

On the one hand, the BBC article sets out that it isn’t possible to demonstrate an increase in crime due to the presence of asylum seekers. On the other, it is clear that one sexual assault is far too many. A system that provides opportunities for predators is obviously broken and we should not tolerate a structure that allows the vulnerable to be harmed.

At the same time, can we limit our protections to the vulnerable that we recognise as belonging to us? Asylum seekers are, by definition, those who are seeking protection. Are we meant to prioritise our vulnerable over their vulnerable? Do national and ethnic boundaries justify abandoning those who are in danger? Remember that we are entering dangerous territory whenever we start asking “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) and “Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29), in order to justify our choices.

Asylum hotels are but one piece of the asylum issue. Further, asylum seekers are only one section of the larger group of immigrants to the UK, making up less that 20 per cent of migrants to the UK in 2024, and the UK is but one country among the many which have to grapple with mass people movement.

Christians can see more

When you try to take in the vast array of issues raised by human migration, what do you ‘see’?

As Christians, we have the ability and the responsibility to see more.

Consider how Emmanuel Durand characterises the example of Jesus in his “uniquely hopeful way of looking at people and situations.”¹

Where anyone else might have seen a mere tired crowd, he saw the people of God lacking a shepherd (Mark 6:34). While the disciples admired the stones of the Temple and the donations made by the wealthy, he fixed his gaze on an inconspicuous widow and the extraordinary significance of the two coins she gave (Luke 21:1-4). Where everyone else saw a sinner embroiled in crooked dealings, he saw a man capable of rising up if called (Mark 2:14). Where Simon the Pharisee saw a public sinner, he recognised a woman capable of being forgiven (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus’ gaze is no mere natural gaze. Rather, he contemplates the possibilities of grace, discerning what is still in embryonic form.”²

The issues raised by migration can be daunting, but those who belong to the new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) cannot be satisfied with what arises within a mere natural gaze.

As we look at the realities of migration, and at the news stories which depict them, we can start by asking questions that allow us to contemplate the possibilities of grace. What might God do in this situation? How would the grace of Jesus transform this reality? Where would the Spirit take us in confronting this darkness?

A prophetic act

Harvey Kwiyani made a similar point about church planting in a July edition of his Global Witness, Globally Reimagined newsletter:

To plant a church is to declare hope in a cynical world. It is to say that God is not done with this neighbourhood, this city, this culture, or this generation. It is a prophetic act in a time of anxiety, disillusionment, and deconstruction. Where many see only decline or institutional fatigue, the church planter sees fertile ground made ready by the workings of the Spirit.

What many see when they face the complexities of human migration is a reason for anxiety. But God is not done with migrants or the lands they arrive in. Where our culture sees problems, what promise can we envision through the workings of the Spirit?

Although in many ways we will see what everyone else sees, as Christians we can see more. We know that everything taking place around us falls within the echo of Jesus standing in a Nazareth synagogue and proclaiming:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4:16-21).

We have been given eyes to see more. Surely we will often find ourselves echoing what others say about migration, but we should be worried if we find ourselves with nothing more to say.

A good starting point is to realise that we have a whole different set of questions that we can ask.

Postscript

Since writing this post, the council where the asylum hotel from the BBC story is located have gained a legal injunction to block the hotel from being used for asylum seekers. Other councils are following their lead. These rapidly developing situations call for involvement from the people of God who see the possibilities of grace.

1. Emmanuel Durand, OP, “The Church’s Jesus in Modern Theology,” in The New Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 2025), 261. ↩︎
2. Same page. ↩︎

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