In Europe, we have become used to the arrival of asylum seekers and refugees, most notably when some 2 million people fleeing the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. Yet the Ukraine migration crisis has been different.

There have been around 8,750 crossings in August alone. The situation worsened since Home Secretary announced plans to deport migrants to Rwanda.

During the last couple of decades around 300 churches have been planted here by people from a non-Swedish culture or nationality, mostly – but not exclusively – in larger cities.

Human rights activists and pastors denounce that “the recognition rate of asylum applications has dropped from close to 100% to close to single digits”.

"Justice While Fleeing" looks at the situation of asylum seekers from different contexts. A doc by the intercultural working community of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance.

There are almost 700 million African Christians, and many live in Western countries. Israel Olofinjana analyses the challenges and opportunities for African mission in Europe.

72 Christian leaders from 22 European countries gathered for 24 hours in Krakow focused on the Ukraine war and refugee crisis.

Thousands have already been hosted by families in countries like Switzerland, Germany, Spain and the UK. Websites connect refugees and potential hosts.

Andrey Tyschchenko is the pastor of an evangelical church in Kharkiv, one of the cities hardest hit by the Russian attack. He is now a refugee in Poland with his family. From there, he organises help to be sent into Ukraine.

(UPDATED) Evangelical platforms in Europe offer channels to support ministries in Ukraine and the bordering countries receiving refugees.

Hundreds of thousands protest in major European cities against Russia’s invasion. All EU countries agree receiving asylum seekers for at least three years.

“Those seeking refuge need to be included in community life so that love, not fear, will win”, says Welcome Churches. Anglicans deny correlation between conversions and asylum applications.

Let us pray and work that we will be found as the ones who have cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner.

The Spanish evangelical organisation Diaconía is helping Afghan refugees settle in Spain. Director Conchi Rodríguez speaks about the challenges and opportunities, and how society reacts to the needs of asylum seekers.

The Refugee Highway Partnership and the WEA encourage churches to “highlight the plight of refugees, pray for and with them and consider unique role churches can play”.

Over 55,000 children have been killed in the Syrian war. A report estimates that the cost of the war is already over US$ 1.2 trillion.

Churches demand “permanent resources” as the humanitarian crisis overwhelms the local population.

“The current focus on returns will not save the asylum system”, says the European Evangelical Alliance representative in Brussels, Arie de Pater. “It is not just about the economy this time, but about people”.

An Iranian Christian who fled his country continued to receive threats from his countrymen in Spain, where the authorities have not granted him asylum after 16 years. “I have confidence in God”, he says.

At the United Nations Human Rights Council, the World Evangelical Alliance denounced “arbitrary procedures” which send Christian asylum seekers back to countries where they could face persecution.

More than a week after the fire, “there is a lot of tiredness and protests”, a Christian aid worker on the island says. If it is permanent, it will have to be improved a lot. The EU announces a new Pact on Migration.

UNHCR representative, Sophie Muller, visited the evangelical church Modern Christian Mission in Fuerteventura. “You are doing an incredible and admirable work”.

Tom Albinson (International Association For Refugees) analyses the 2020 refugee crisis. He believes churches are key “to open the door” and help asylum seekers integrate in a new culture.

Volunteers of the Christian project I58 serve the needs of asylum seekers in the Moria refugee camp. Their community centre offers “tea and biscuits to around 500 to 700 people per day”.

The Modern Christian Mission church in Fuerteventura is hosting over newly arrived 150 migrants. “The island is helpless in matters of migration, we only have God”, the pastor says.