In recent times, the nation-states are engaged in the demarcation of territories; control of borders and boundaries. But when it comes to homeless or displaced, the whole sphere or domain that they occupy is above the nations, but in the dynamic become stateless. In tune to it Freire elaborates that though “the significance of space is ethically determined, and the ethical determination of space places in question – and gives it significance”, but in reality, totally opposed. ‘Space’ plays an important part in human existence and this space be it social, cultural, economic and political is being gradually appropriated by the dominant and the privileged. The immigrants and migrants who have been forced to leave their locales end up in a space which is foreign, hostile, volatile and totally different.
The emergent scenario poses more difficulties than ever because those who move out of their locales for a number of reasons have been labeled as non-persons without identity are increasingly being regulated and must have cards and numbers with bio-metrics. To prevent their entry, as pointed by Freire that “Borders must be maintained, and immigration must be controlled. Identity must be assured in the name of security, but also to exclude the different from the same. In short, ‘the other’ must be identified, even though ‘the other’ already has his or her own identity which may transcend the limits imposes by an identity-conferring State.” However, the migration issue has ripped open the falsity of nation-states who talk about inter-dependence and mutual co-existence.
The far-right politics of nationalism do not want the ‘other’ to pollute their identities. They are now moving ahead of curtailing and controlling the migrants at all levels. But the counter-narrative and political project ought to be brought to the fore which is ‘ethic of hospitality and politics of accommodation’. In such dehumanized setting, the real alternative and our vocation ought to be humanize those who have been de-humanized and disenfranchised. It is unfortunate that this vocation has not been considered and thus negated. While on the other, the victims have been yearning for freedom and justice, and by their struggle they believe and hope to recover their lost humanity. Their humanity has been stolen.
As Freire rightly articulates that “While the problem of humanization has always, from an axiological point of view, been humankind’s central problem, it now takes on the character of an inescapable concern.” Hence, “Concern for humanization leads at once to the recognition of dehumanization, not only as an ontological possibility. but as an historical reality.” As against the backdrop a tiny state of Mizoram, wedged into Myanmar on its east and south and Bangladesh to the west, has been experiencing one of South Asia’s huge humanitarian challenges, wherein welcoming thousands of forcibly displaced persons from the two neighboring countries. Currently, its neighbors – people from Manipur are also fleeing political unrest, ethnic conflicts and violence keep entering into Mizoram.
The crisis undergirds remarkable solidarity shown by Mizos towards those who have been ethnically part of the generic ‘Zo’ people as well as the complex challenges arising out of many factors, but exhibiting ethic of compassion and ethic of hospitality. According to official data, the total number of displaced people who have been sheltered in Mizoram since 2021 account for around 3% of the state’s estimated population: totaling approximately 22,000 Chins from Myanmar, 2,200 Bawms from Bangladesh and over 5,500 internally displaced people (Kuki-Zo IDPs) from Manipur. Apart from these, there are many others from neighboring states enter into Mizoram when things deteriorate. The refugees are not concentrated in formal camps unlike other states, but dispersed in 111 districts of Mizoram where they stay with relatives or in rented accommodation.
Though India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, Mizoram accepts the displaced people. The influx of people from neighboring countries and states keeps growing at alarming pace and yet Mizoram insists that the humanitarian crisis could not be ignored that goes beyond strict enforcement of immigration policies. In a world of protectionism and closures of borders, the modus operandi of Mizoram seems to be totally different. What runs deep into the government and people of Mizoram is ethic of compassion and hospitality. The overarching foundational theological-ethical principle on which the entire framework hangs on is: The God in Jesus Christ taking the human form lives amongst us. This is the ever-living theological-ethical pinnacle that God in Jesus Christ and humans have converged—come into fruition.
This is the base foundational overarching principle on which the phenomenon of migration will have to be addressed and examined. God becoming human to this world in Jesus Christ manifests the unconditional love manifested to the whole of humanity—God so loved the World and He gave His only Son, so that humanity shall be redeemed. The salvation history of humanity vests and rests in Jesus Christ. The coming together of the Dive-Human is made possible in and through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The mystery of the Incarnation reveals how God up there and Humans down here coming to the earth by sharing the human condition. God became known in and through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. This is the grandeur. Upon this framework human migration hinges on.
“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:1—3). This attitude and openness will have to be the categorical imperative and need of the hour. By opening our borders and doors and welcoming the strangers belonging to diverse faith persuasion unfolds totally new and different experience and meaning to us as well as to the ethos of nations. Migration is tearing apart the people, communities, societies and countries and in the process changing the contours of international politics. So, an ethic of hospitability and compassion can be used as an instrument and approach for building a common humanity thereby the world would eventually become home of the one human family—a common humanity.
Ethic of hospitality and compassion emanates from the ethical certainty of homelessness premised on the fact that Christ, the stranger. This fact reverberates in the following verse “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58). The theological motif may be varying and the context in which it was said is descriptive and detailed, and yet open to subsequent interpretation. Jesus renounces the familial and national identities. He deliberately displaces himself and intentionally becomes homeless, for the sake of Kingdom and its proclamation. While proclaiming God’s Kingdom ‘Here and Now’ it presupposes discipleship that calls for responsibility for another. Responsibility requires a prior openness to the other and in this case ‘relational’.
Dr. John Mohan Razu
Sunday, July 6, 2025