Waiting for the Refugees

“For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting.
― Haruki Murakami 
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Our involvement with refugees is at a standstill right now, sadly.  It is painful to be in a state of waiting. 

In October, we were asked by the local government  - via the NGO we work with - to be on-call to work with 200 refugee families who would be resettled in our town of Antequera, Spain.  In Spain, no one has access to refugees except through invitation of officials and that only occurs via an officially recognized NGO.  We are fortunate that Billy sits on the board of a local NGO and, therefore, was able to be poised to help.  They would be a handful of the 15,000+ who were to be resettled in Spain by the end of December.  As of today, that still has not occurred.  New vetting procedures were implemented which all but halted the resettlement process.  The backlog of refugees and asylum seekers vying for resettlement in Europe astounding, and Spain has only agreed to take a few.  In January, we were told to continue to stand on-call and we would be notified when resettlement occurred.  Still... nothing today and we are well into March.

“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts.” 
― Elisabeth Elliot

The sad truth of the matter is that Spain was extremely hesitant to take refugees in the first place.  The government all but refused.  However, that was a very unpopular stance with the public and petitions and public uprising caused the government to change their decision and agree to accept 15,000 refugees.  That being said, Amnesty International just put Spain on their list of worst countries for human rights infractions... partially because of the government's poor treatment of immigrants and refugees over the past year.  

Spain has seen their share of immigrants and refugees, for sure.  But these do not come to us via legal channels.  Not unlike our home state of Texas, Spain is the southern-most border of European nations.  We are a country of first entry.  Most immigrants and refugees cross the Mediterranean from Morocco, coming up to us from West African nations, or crossing to us from Syria and Middle Eastern countries by crossing North Africa and coming up across the tiny 8 mile stretch of sea at The Strait of Gibraltar.

The Spanish population as a whole is very considerate of and compassionate toward the current plight of refugees. They remember that they, too, were once refugees fleeing a horrible civil war and a terrible dictator in the 1930s and 40s... a cruel dictatorship that lasted until 1978. The refugee cause is not far removed from the Spanish population. I have seen family photos of local families as they were fleeing Spain and heading for France and Morocco.  We recently met a woman who was a baby when her family fled to Morocco, chased by the dictator's army. Her father had a price on his head.  He was one of the original writers of the Spanish constitution in the early 1930s and this made him a dangerous political figure. They fled to Morocco, then crossed the Atlantic by ship to Mexico, where she lived most of her life. So, she has lived her entire life as a refugee from Spain.  The refugee situation is close to the hearts of Spanish population, to say the least.  I have talked with many who say, “We were cared for.  We were taken in. We must return this kindness to humanity.” However, current Spanish government has had their own ideas.  

“One of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God.” 
― Oswald Chambers

We are sad that the current situation is that we are still in a holding pattern.  There are currently talks between EU countries may change some things, but we fear not for the better.  It now appears that instead of resettling refugees in Spain and other EU countries, those countries have decided to attempt to pay other countries to take their share of refugees off their hands.  Sadly, the ‘least of these’ have become bargaining chips.  It appears that these precious lives are worth about 3 billion Euros... that is what they want to pay Turkey in order for them to not allow refugees out of Turkey and into other EU countries.  This makes me so sad.

People are trying to be creative and figure out ways around the situation.  Just this week, NGOs and private entities have made inroads in what appears to be a way to skip the government backlog and contract to bring numbers of refugees directly in to municipalities in Spain that wish to take refugees now and are prepared with infrastructure and resources.  Tired of red tape, they are taking the situation in to their own hands.

I wish I could write about how we are currently ministering to refugees in Antequera.  Instead, we continue wait.  We are ready to help. We pray for solutions.  I'm sure that God's heart is sad, too.  Scripture has so much to say about this situation.  It is difficult  to know that people – children of God – people whom God loves and adores - are standing at the door knocking and we cannot open the door. People are in need, people are ready to help, yet our hands are tied with red tape.

Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is "timing"
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way. 
― Fulton J. Sheen

** Please note that this situation changes daily.  Two days ago, the situation with the Spanish parliment and their vote in the EU discussions was completely 180 degree difference from what is is today in the latest news.  By the time you read this, it could be different still.  

April 8, 1938 Spanish refugees crossing in to France during the Spanish Civil War - Franco dictatorship. (Keystone/Getty Images)