Going Deeper - refugees
Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their
shelter from the destroyer. Isa 16:3,4
** IDP =
“Internally
Displaced
Person” …
someone driven
from home but
still in the same
country
1)
9)
7)
Almost
2m
Refugees
refugees
half
were
the
in include
2013,
staying
2)
4)
More
are
many
half
the
more
8) There
Turkey
now
has
2m
3)
5)
The
55%
pace
ofthan
refugees
of
exodus
and
10)
“Self-resettling”
in is
6)
People
groups
around
in
Lebanese
region
5m
in
population
today
hopes
of only
is
Syrian
female
population
than
male
isillegal
refugees,
with
IDPs
increasing
are
(so,
Europe
– children
265,000
Sunni
Muslims,
Turcoman,
going
now
home;
now
to
be
moving
displaced
refugees
from
Syria
1 in 8believed
in the
25
camps
about
5.5
million)
crossings
in
2014,
and
Alawites,
Kurds,
Yazidi
further
refugees
to
(formal
find
better
or life
325,000
by
September
of
and
Christians
for
otherwise)
children
this
year
What % of the UK population are
refugees, asylum seekers and
stateless persons?
• 0.24%
• 117,000 refugees (successful asylum
applicants)
• 36,383 pending asylum cases (top 3
nationalities are Eritrean, Pakistani and Syrian)
• 16 stateless persons
If the world’s refugees
were a nation …
Bourj el Barajneh, a refugee “camp” in its third
generation
Sustainable Development Goal 16
“Promote peaceful and
inclusive societies for
sustainable development,
provide access to justice for
all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels”
Adam and Eve …
refugees
in
the
Bible
Cut off from home,
work, lifestyle, religion.
New identity (clothes).
Cain …
refugees
in
the
Bible
A restless wanderer
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob …
refugees
in
the
Bible
Famine
Like fluttering birds
pushed from the nest,
so are the women of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.
‘Make up your mind,’ Moab says.
‘Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night –
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,
do not betray the refugees.
Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their shelter from the destroyer.’
Isaiah 16:2-4 (NIV)
Judah
Moab
Israel and Judah
refugees
in
the
Bible
Israel from 740 BC
Judah taken 586 BC
Jesus
refugees
in
the
Bible
“Out of Egypt I have
called my son”
your
refugee
status
Foreigners and
strangers here on
earth … fellow
citizens with all those
who seek the
Kingdom built on the
cornerstone of Christ
credits
UNHCR.org.uk, published statistics (nb their official figures always grossly
underestimate the true number of Syrian refugees due to under-reporting)
The Conflict in Syria: Understanding and Avoiding Regional Spillover Effects
by William Young et al, Rand Corporation
Syrian Refugee Crisis in Maps, edmaps.com
Refugees and displacement (various resources), ODI.org
Map of Moab sites from http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancientisrael/ot/plains_of_moab.html
Google maps
Cover photo, © World Vision International 2015