Introduction

At first glance, religion and forced displacement seem to have little in common. Religion, in its lived or institutionalised forms, focuses on the transcendence and the other-worldly. By contrast, forced displacement is about the tangible movement of people across geographical boundaries. However, one needs only turn to the foundational texts of some of the world's religions to find accounts of displacement, along with their wider humanitarian impact. Exodus (Shemot in Hebrew), the second book of the Old Testament, recounts the plight of the Israelites who were led by Moses out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land. The Gospel of Matthew in the Christian Bible details how Jesus fled as a child to Egypt to escape King Herod, who sought to have him killed. In Islam, hijrah denotes the migration of the Prophet Mohammed and his followers from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution in 622. In each case, the experience of emigration and the associated humanitarian hardships constitute a part of formative narratives of the respective religious community.

The themes of forced displacement and migration are no less topical today. In spring 2013, a coalition of leading faith-based humanitarian organisations and academic institutions responded to the call of António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by drafting the document ‘Welcoming the Stranger: Affirmations for Faith Leaders’ (UNHCR 2013). The affirmations draw upon the sacred texts of Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish traditions, aiming to inspire leaders of all faiths to ‘welcome the stranger’ – whether that be a migrant, refugee, internally displaced person (IDP) or other stranger – with dignity, respect and loving support. They were also published in Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Russian and Spanish, and designed as a practical tool to foster support for displaced people across the world. Signed by more than 1,700 religious leaders, the publication of the affirmations indicates the growing awareness among policymakers at both the UN and national levels of the need to take the religious factor into account in relation to displacement.