ABSTRACT
The principle that hospitality should be offered to the stranger runs through the Bible. Graciousness to those in need is seen as a way of honouring God, and strangers are assured of a minimum of protection and provision. Hospitality sets in motion processes of reciprocal knowledge and recognition it allows others to exist, in opening up a place where they can show who they are. The ideal of refugee protection, however, continues outside the formal arrangements of the state and inspires protest often in defiance of the law, where that is perceived to violate the norms of humanity. The concept of asylum has become vilified and criminalized through notions of bogus asylum claims and terror threats. Motivated by philanthropy, many individuals and groups respond generously to particular need; churches and secular NGOs do and they can alleviate the immediate effects of poverty on their doorstep; individuals and governments donate generously to charitable appeals to help millions of refugees worldwide.
