Drawing on anthropology, philosophy and history, author Michel Agier clarifies the terms of the debate about conditions in which foreigners are welcomed.

Why do we invoke hospitality so often even as the migration crisis in Europe worsens? Because states withhold asylum and refugee rights at borders and checkpoints, while at the same time, politicians and the media attribute fear and rejection of foreigners to the "people".
Challenged to prove their humanity, many people have found themselves driven to do something: to host, feed, or transport disoriented migrants. In so doing, they have awakened an old anthropological custom long believed dormant: namely, hospitality.