The UK Immigration Crisis

Migration has long been a human phenomenon as people have sought safer, more prosperous lives. But a quick glance at world news shows that migration, especially of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, is no longer viewed favorably. Political battles are fought by leaders promising to stem the tide of illegal immigration. Receiving nations struggle to provide housing, jobs, and services for exploding migrant populations. Native residents hear their native tongue spoken less frequently. And migrants vie with native-born citizens for jobs and services. Nations that once welcomed asylum seekers now react with growing animosity and fear.

Why are Western nations embroiled in these burgeoning immigration crises? And what will be the fates of Western societies—and the immigrant populations, themselves? The Bible provides answers.

More People, More Problems?

The United Kingdom and Ireland are among the nations at the heart of the global immigration crisis. The last two years saw record numbers of asylum seekers enter the UK—more than 100,000 people by small boats since 2020 (BBC, 23 January 2024). The majority of UK asylum seekers arrive from Afghanistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In 2022, more than 45,000 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel from France—another nation struggling with unchecked immigration. The same year, net migration to the UK reached nearly 750,000 people (BBC, 22 December 2023). UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has lamented that immigration numbers “are far too high.”

According to The Guardian (2 November 2022), as of November 2022, one in six residents in England and Wales was born outside the UK—a 33 percent increase in ten years. While legal immigrants must prove their ability to work and verify future employment, asylum seekers have no such requirement, receiving free government-funded housing and a weekly “cash card” (LawCentreNI.org, July 2023).

Mr. Sunak, himself a son of immigrants, sounded an alarm in 2023: “Our enemies will see how unable we are to deal with this and so they will increasingly use migration as a weapon: deliberately driving people to our shores to try to destabilise our societies” (The Telegraph, 16 December 2023). He warned that immigration policies must change, or migrants will “overwhelm our countries and our capacity to help those who need our help most.” And he lamented, “It will destroy the public’s faith not just in us as politicians but in our very systems of government.” This echoes the observation of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who observed that Britain might become “rather swamped by people of a different culture.” While considered politically incorrect today and very misunderstood, these words from the “Iron Lady” acknowledged the powerful impact of sudden changes to Britain’s demographic.

Slipping Morals, Sliding Society

Sociologist Anne Holohan of Trinity College Dublin noted in a December 2023 Sky News interview, “We’ve seen an uptick in the number of asylum seekers…. And the increasing number… has highlighted problems in Irish society, but they have not caused these problems.” In concluding that Ireland’s woes are the government’s fault, Professor Holohan overlooks the profound connection between the immigration problem and inherent problems in Irish society.

What is the underlying societal problem that spawned the current immigration nightmare? The Bible warns that when nations reject God’s commandments, they will pay the price of societal upheaval. The British Common Law that undergirds many English-speaking nations is influenced by the biblical Ten Commandments. But the values that led Great Britain to assist, support, and aid needy nations around the globe for centuries, however imperfectly, are now being replaced by a godless and fluid ideology focused on self. Western nations are now modeling themselves after Israel’s ancient time of the Judges, in which “there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

God warned of what will happen if His commandments are rejected: “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower” (Deuteronomy 28:43). We are watching that reality play out today in Britain, Ireland, and other Western nations. Population statistics bear out that the foreign-born population in Western nations is increasing, while the numbers of domestic births are declining. According to the BBC, “The growth of immigration from the EU has led to some towns with traditionally small pockets of migrants, in the Midlands [of England] and Wales for example, to experience a rapid change in the make-up of their population” (19 January 2020). In London, only 36.8 percent of residents are classified as “white British” (Gov.uk). In 2021 in Manchester, only 36.2 percent called themselves Christian, 32.4 percent said they had no religion, and 22.3 percent identified as Muslim. And in Birmingham in 2021, 34 percent called themselves Christian, 24 percent said they had no religion, and 30 percent identified as Muslim (Gov.uk). In March 2023, according to the BBC, 395 hotels across the UK had been commandeered by the government for the purpose of housing asylum seekers.

The trend is similar in Ireland where a third of hotel rooms are occupied by asylum seekers (NewsTalk, 31 March 2023), causing a sharp rise in hotel rates. In Roscrea, residents protested plans for the town’s only hotel to become an asylum-seeker residence, which would add 160 more immigrants to a town of less than 6,000 already housing 600 asylum seekers (RTE.ie, 12 January 2024). Since Covid, roughly 100,000 Ukrainians alone have come to Ireland—a nation of just 6.5 million (Sky News, 10 December 2023). And in Ballyhaunis in Ireland’s west, 40 percent of the population was born abroad.

A closely related result of unchecked immigration is the rapidly changing belief systems of political leaders. The UK’s current Prime Minister is Hindu. Scotland’s Scottish National Party head and First Minister is Muslim. These leaders represent an ever-growing body of government officials holding value systems that differ from the Bible-influenced foundation that once upheld Great Britain and Ireland. As a Belgian MP reportedly observed in 2015, Muslim immigration is “an invasion, it’s a ‘Trojan horse’” (The Guardian, 19 March 2015).

The “alien among you” is certainly becoming the “head” while the resident peoples are becoming “the tail”—exactly as God warned. This cultural and societal shift is occurring across Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other Israelite-descended nations.

Seeking a Place to Call Home

God does not show favoritism; He does not prefer any nation or people over another (Acts 10:34). Immigrants in Israel were to be treated well (Deuteronomy 10:19), but God also commanded that those immigrants adopt His way of life (Numbers 15:15–16).

People flee their countries due to famine, war, and corrupt, self-centered leaders. They flee their homes seeking the peace, safety, and prosperity of Western—formerly Bible-influenced—nations. This exodus will continue until a profound change comes: Jesus Christ will return to the earth and will install righteous leaders over humanity. Their loving, selfless actions will eliminate the need for people to flee from their homes. Christ will heal current societal divides and give dignity and respect to all peoples. Under Christ’s reign, there will be one law—God’s law—and one value system that unites the world!