I want to address a somewhat delicate but extremely important issue here for those doing ministry work especially in Germany, east France and the Nordic region. I noticed the many thoughtful posts here about those doing ministry work in these countries with a focus on the refugee population, where we have indeed witnessed tens of thousands of conversions from Islam in recent months, something of a miracle in the making.
An uncomfortable but critical question has arisen in the midst of this. As many of you know, the refugee process in the EU (which has been designed for manageable numbers of Syrians, Iraqis and Balkans nationals fleeing clear persecution-- especially Christians and those leaving Islam) has been unfortunately abused by thousands of economic migrants who have poured into Europe, pretending to be refugees and taking places and resources clearly meant for the refugees. All of us have run into them, and they one distinguishing feature above all-- they are Muslim (mostly men) and refuse to convert away from Islam, having come to Europe chiefly in search of benefits and welfare. All such Muslim economic migrants abusing the refugee process are subject to deportation, and the countries in which we are ministering have often asked our direct help in reporting such individuals. The question for us, then, is do we report them?
For our group and others we have worked with, the answer is: absolutely yes, we do report such abusers for deportation and without hesitation, in fact it would be a dereliction of duty on our parts not to report them. I realize at first glance that this policy sounds quite tough, and it's not an easy topic (mission work isn't supposed to be easy or comfortable), but I will briefly explain why our group and all others with which we have collaborated have adopted the same stance, which in practice means that we report any Muslim migrant (who is not interested in fleeing Islam) for immediate deportation out of Germany, France, the Nordic region, or other European countries:
As I explained, the refugee process in Europe in designed explicitly and exclusively for a limited number of refugees and asylees fleeing genuine persecution in their home countries for their beliefs, not due to economic circumstances-- economic migrants must apply through the standard legal channels. If they are economic migrants and not refugees, then they are abusing the process and taking up precious and scarce resources designed for refugees only, while also pushing public opinion in Europe ever more harshly against taking more migrants and closing off options for refugees (a situation of "baby being thrown out with bath-water" which is sadly understandable given circumstances). And let me make this clear, a Muslim from Syria, Iraq or any other country who comes into Europe claiming to be a refugee, and who refuses to give up Islam (that is, they are not fleeing out of for ex. persecution due to interest in leaving Islam)-- that person by definition cannot be a refugee. And they must be reported as economic migrants abusing the process. If any of our members fail to report such abusers of the process, then they are complicit in the abuse, and worsening the problem-- for the host countries, for the real refugees, even for the misguided economic migrants.
The reason for this is simple. Remember that by international laws, refugees must be coming from a country in crisis or where there is severe and imminent persecution for their beliefs (as Christians often face in Muslim countries), and they must settle in the first safe countries to which they arrive after leaving their home countries. Muslim north African countries, most Muslim Gulf countries, and any Muslim communities in the Balkans are not countries in crisis, and the only way a person can be a refugee from these countries is if they are Christian or considering leaving Islam (which often does carry punishments). If they come as Muslims, intending to stay Muslims, then they are not refugees, and they are abusing the process and must be deported. (Eritrea is NOT a refugee source and migrants from there are economic migrants-- they are facing difficulties but no more than dozens of other countries, the refugee designation is meant for acute crises and persecution due specifically to belief.)
In the case of Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan to lesser extent, there are many Muslim refugees as well as Christian and Yazidi refugees, but the Muslim refugees must settle in neighboring safe countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and a number of other safe options. The moment they attempt to cross further into Europe, they are no longer refugees-- they are economic migrants looking for EU handouts and abusing the refugee process. The exception to this, of course, is Christians and Yazidis from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who are often unsafe in any Muslim country, and therefore do have the right as refugees to go further into Europe. The only other legitimate class is Muslims who are questioning Islam and looking to convert. There are hundreds of thousands in this class, of course-- they are the ones receptive to our message. However, if they are Muslim and refuse to convert away from Islam, then they are by definition economic migrants, not refugees, even if they have come from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, since they have failed to settle in neighboring Muslim safe countries as they are expected to based on international refugee law.
We have not hesitated to make this clear to the migrants that we speak to-- the refugee process is fragile and rapidly losing public support in Europe, and thus it must be preserved for actual Christians or those considering Christianity, who are indeed facing persecution in their home countries. Just last month I myself had to report a Muslim Kosovar who refused to consider conversion and was clearly an economic migrant, along with more than a dozen Muslim Afghans, Syrians, Iraqis and north Africans who likewise refused to leave Islam-- all that I and others in my group have reported have since been deported.
I want to make this clear, we are not doing this out of hate or to be mean, we are doing this because it is our solemn duty to protect the rapidly unraveling refugee process and make sure Christians in the Middle East continue to have access to it. Germany and Sweden in particular have thus far been quite generous to the refugees, but since it has become clear that far too many "refugees" are not refugees but economic migrants, public opinion has turned sharply against their governments and there is enormous pressure to shut the doors. (It does not take a political analyst to realize that Angela Merkel's days in public office are numbered-- her policies have been terribly managed in part because she failed to make this distinction at the out-set of the migrant crisis-- and soon Germany and the rest of Europe will be shutting their doors.) Ironically we have been contacted by several of the people that we deported (we reached out to them in attempts to get them to consider accepting the Gospel), and somewhat to our surprise, they thanked us. They realized they were coming to Europe for the wrong reasons, separated from their families and homes, and our firm actions helped to keep them from making a mistake. One, in fact, reported that his brother has since left Islam and accepted the Gospel, adopting a rich and wonderful French name (as he has plans to move to France, others doing same for Germany or Nordic region)-- both first and last name, which is a clear sign of devotion-- and raising his children in the Christian faith.
Thus if any of our members fails to speak up and report a Muslim economic migrant abusing the refugee process, then he or she is complicit in damaging the process itself, and indirectly doing harm to potentially millions of Christians and Muslims leaving Islam who desperately need it. Once again, if you encounter anyone claiming to be a refugee or asylee who is Muslim, and refuses to leave Islam, then that person cannot be a refugee at all within European borders, for reasons laid out above. Do not at any point fear that you are acting harshly, in fact by reporting abusers of the refugee process, you are acting in a humanitarian fashion and helping to preserve the sanctity of this process.