Tweet
REFUGEES FLEEING IRAQ CHRISTIAN TORMENT ENTER JORDAN IN DROVES
Ecumenical News
Oct 23 2014
Miko Morelos
Thursday, October 23 2014
More than 3,000 Iraqi Christians have fled Mosul and the Nineveh
Plain and sought refuge in Jordan, as extremists continue to persecute
religious minorities in strife-torn Iraq.
Rising violence by the Islamic State against Christian and other
minorities living in Iraq, has pushed thousands of people into refugee
areas, a Latin Church official keeping track of the situation has said.
Archbishop Maroun Laham told Fides Catholic news agency on October 20,
relief workers caring for refugees are anticipating more people will
seek shelter as jihadists drive Christians from the area.
Laham, who is the patriarchal vicar for Jordan, said the Christian
refugees in the country have arrived at different parishes.
Some were housed in Latin parishes, while others took shelter at the
parishes of Greek-Catholic, Syrian Catholic and Armenian Christians.
Caritas Jordan has continued to support the basic needs of the
refugees, while a host of charities and volunteer organizations provide
the other necessities of the Christians there, according to Laham.
Aside from their basic needs, refugee families also worried about
their children's studies.
They have explored the possibilities of their children continuing
their studies there, as well as university students, who are looking
into attending school there.
While safety and security remained the paramount concern, Laham
lamented the fact that the circumstances of the Christians leaving
their homeland risked wiping out the Middle East Christian population.
He said some of the refugees had already started looking for another
place to settle down. It was clear that returning to Iraq was not
an option.
"Two traits are shared by the vast majority of Christian refugees:
nobody wants to go back to Iraq and everyone is trying to get a visa
to Australia or America," Laham said in an interview with Fides.
"In this sense, the choices of Western embassies risk in their own way,
to heavily contribute to the disappearance of the Christian presence
in the Middle East," he noted.
"The Chaldean Patriarch has recognized that every Christian must
decide according to their conscience what to do."
Fighting persisted in some parts of Iraq as extremists from the
Islamic State have waged a war against Christians and other religious
minorities in the area.
http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/refugees-fleeing-iraq-christian-torment-enter-jordan-in-droves-26964
Ecumenical News
Oct 23 2014
Miko Morelos
Thursday, October 23 2014
More than 3,000 Iraqi Christians have fled Mosul and the Nineveh
Plain and sought refuge in Jordan, as extremists continue to persecute
religious minorities in strife-torn Iraq.
Rising violence by the Islamic State against Christian and other
minorities living in Iraq, has pushed thousands of people into refugee
areas, a Latin Church official keeping track of the situation has said.
Archbishop Maroun Laham told Fides Catholic news agency on October 20,
relief workers caring for refugees are anticipating more people will
seek shelter as jihadists drive Christians from the area.
Laham, who is the patriarchal vicar for Jordan, said the Christian
refugees in the country have arrived at different parishes.
Some were housed in Latin parishes, while others took shelter at the
parishes of Greek-Catholic, Syrian Catholic and Armenian Christians.
Caritas Jordan has continued to support the basic needs of the
refugees, while a host of charities and volunteer organizations provide
the other necessities of the Christians there, according to Laham.
Aside from their basic needs, refugee families also worried about
their children's studies.
They have explored the possibilities of their children continuing
their studies there, as well as university students, who are looking
into attending school there.
While safety and security remained the paramount concern, Laham
lamented the fact that the circumstances of the Christians leaving
their homeland risked wiping out the Middle East Christian population.
He said some of the refugees had already started looking for another
place to settle down. It was clear that returning to Iraq was not
an option.
"Two traits are shared by the vast majority of Christian refugees:
nobody wants to go back to Iraq and everyone is trying to get a visa
to Australia or America," Laham said in an interview with Fides.
"In this sense, the choices of Western embassies risk in their own way,
to heavily contribute to the disappearance of the Christian presence
in the Middle East," he noted.
"The Chaldean Patriarch has recognized that every Christian must
decide according to their conscience what to do."
Fighting persisted in some parts of Iraq as extremists from the
Islamic State have waged a war against Christians and other religious
minorities in the area.
http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/refugees-fleeing-iraq-christian-torment-enter-jordan-in-droves-26964