1979-07 Resolution on Refugees

79-5 RESOLUTION ON REFUGEES

Background

The problem of refugees has received international attention in recent years. Refugees have become a wound in the conscience of humanity, as more people are dislocated and homeless now than at any point since World War II.

Various reasons exist for “the refugee problem”. People are dislocated because of:

--natural disaster

--political upheavals of war

--economic deprivation caused by nationalization, etc.

--desire for better jobs, opportunities and living conditions

--motivations of conscience

In such instances – such as natural disaster or the temporary dislocations of war – immediate attention is given to refugees by the world community. Recently, international concern has been focused primarily on the Vietnamese “boat people”, and countries around the world have opened their doors.

Although the problem of the “boat people requires immediate attention by the world community, the issue of refugees is a much larger and more complex one. It not only raises the simple question of “where” and “how” these refugees are to be relocated but also raises fundamental questions about the validity of nations, states, and the right of nations to restrict entry into and exit from their territory.

We feel, in America, that humanitarian considerations for the human needs of a refugee group are too often subordinated to ideological considerations. Soviet Jews are welcomed because they are “fleeing Communism”, Vietnamese refugees are accepted because of our feeling of responsibility for the situation in Southeast Asia.

Far less willingness exists to accept refugees from other groups suffering equal hardship in countries with which the United States is allied politically or which seem unimportant to the United States’ interest.

A double standard, then, is operating behind the United States’ immigration policy, a standard which is an unacceptable response to human need. We feel that such a standard is inconsistent with our Christian desire to aid the oppressed.

Resolved

1) A study document be drafted by the International Concerns Committee of LSM-USA on the problem of refugees and immigration policy of the United States to be presented at the 1980 LSM-USA National Assembly. We further urge the International Concerns Committee to take up the issue with the major church bodies of the Lutheran Church (ALC, LCA, LCMA, and AELC).

2) That consideration of the refugee problem be incorporated into the program of LSM Regional Conferences. The aforementioned study document may be used for background information.

3) That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and that this agency be utilized for further study and action.

4) That the Immigration and Refugee Services of the Division of Mission and Ministry of LCUSA be commended through letters for their work thus far on the refugee problem.