The Duty of a Stranger.

An audio introduction to an essay by Bijan Omrani, from The Salisbury Review.

Public arguments about migration often begin with hospitality: what does a settled society owe to someone who arrives in need? Bijan Omrani asks the neglected question in the other direction. What does a guest owe to the country that receives him?

His essay is directed particularly at the Church of England. Omrani argues that Church statements dwell on the duties of hosts while saying little about restraint, gratitude, honesty and respect on the part of newcomers. To make his case, he returns to scripture rather than political slogans.

The biblical stranger is protected, he writes, but is not free of obligation. Abraham pays his hosts fairly. Moses defends the family that shelters him. Guests bring blessings; they accept the law and customs of the society in which they live. Deceit and exploitation are treated as breaches of trust.

Omrani's argument is not that hospitality should be withdrawn. It is that hospitality is a relationship, and relationships cease to be humane when every duty runs in only one direction. Care for the newcomer must also be weighed alongside care for the vulnerable people already at home.

The essay asks the Church to recover a fuller moral vocabulary: welcome, certainly, but also reciprocity; compassion, but also humility; sanctuary, but not the erasure of the host culture.

Read The Duty of a Stranger by Bijan Omrani at salisburyreview.com.