Conflict Displaces Christians in Middle East
By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
MCLEAN, VA (ANS) — The current conflict in Lebanon has caused almost a quarter of the Lebanese population to relocate, some within their own country, others to Syria and Jordan.
The Lebanese refugees are in addition to hundreds of thousands of other displaced people, who have already fled other war torn areas in the Middle East.
According to a news release from the Barnabas Fund, Christians displaced in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and the West Bank are estimated to number between 550,000 and 750,000.
Many of the refugees are in need of shelter, food and clothing, the Barnabas Fund stated. Some also have specific medical needs resulting from either war injuries or ongoing medical conditions. For example, many Iraqi refugees in both Jordan and Syria have cancer. Some also need trauma counseling, especially children who have seen the bombing in Lebanon and are now unable to sleep.
Other needs of the refugees vary from one location to another, and are becoming more acute as time passes, the Barnabas Fund stated. Most of the Lebanese Christians displaced within Lebanon are currently staying with other Christian families in their homes. But this situation will not be viable if the war continues on for a long time.
Jordan has begun to refuse entry to Iraqi men between the ages of 18 and 35, the Barnabas Fund stated. As a result, the most recent refugees there are mostly women, children and older men. Families without a man to protect them are very vulnerable in Middle Eastern society, the Barnabas Fund commented, and women have very few ways in which they can support their children and elderly dependents.
Another new rule in Jordan forbids Iraqi children from studying in government schools, the Barnabas Fund stated. As a result, they can only study in private schools, which are out of reach financially for many refugees.
In Syria, the Barnabas Fund reported, there is more need among the Iraqi Christians in Damascus than amongst those in Aleppo. But some Iraqi Christians have begun to establish church buildings, with permission from the Syrian government.
The third country nationals are probably the most vulnerable of all the refugees from the Lebanon conflict, the Barnabas Fund news release stated.
Filipinos, for example, do not expect any help from the Filipino government, nor from the Lebanese families who formerly employed them as domestic servants. Many people have lost their personal documents as a result of the current war. While Syria has allowed in thousands of Lebanese without identification, the Barnabas Fund reported that Syria is refusing entry to Filipinos and other third country nationals unless they are carrying valid ID.
According to the Barnabas Fund, however, three Ethiopian women did manage to make their way from Lebanon to Cyprus. Two were allowed in because they had the required air tickets, but the third was deported back to Lebanon.
A Barnabas Fund official speaking in a news release said, “Cypriot officials failed to inform her that she could have applied for political asylum on the basis that she had come from war-torn Lebanon.”
The Barnabas Fund “serves the suffering Church and makes their needs known to Christians around the world, encouraging them to pray.”
For more information go to www.barnabasfund.org/aboutus.htm
