Paris Attacks Exacerbate Refugee Crisis
From
Christian Aid Mission (www.christianaid.org)
-- For Immediate Release
Contact:
Amie Cotton APR, +1 (434) 327-1240, Amie@christianaid.org
CHARLOTTESVILLE,
VA (ANS-- Dec. 8, 2015) -- The Islamic State's Nov. 13 terrorist
attacks in Paris have further squeezed indigenous Christian ministries serving
refugees in the Middle East, as officials in some European countries have called
for shutting their doors to Syrians.
None
of the terrorists who killed 130 people in Paris have been identified as
Syrians, though one had apparently stolen the passport of a Syrian migrant. The
Belgian suspected of organizing the operation and five French citizens
reportedly involved in the attacks were Muslim extremists from Europe, though
they had traveled to Syria, presumably to make contact with Islamic State (ISIS)
leaders.
Insecurity
following the attacks, combined with reports (http://www.christianaid.org/News/2015/mir20151008.aspx)
of ISIS recruiting from among Syrian refugees and infiltrating refugee camps,
has led European countries to tighten controls on refugee flows, though the vast
majority of migrants are families, women, children and the elderly who are
themselves victims of ISIS and other war-related violence.
“The
violence we saw in Paris is violence that people in Syria are fleeing,” Joel
Charny, an official at Inter Action, an umbrella group for aid organizations,
recently told National Public Radio. “We're not helping terrorists. We're
helping vulnerable people. It's the perpetrators of the violence in Syria that
are driving people to flee. Let's not punish the victims.”
As
word has spread among refugees of greater difficulty in crossing European
borders, the Middle Eastern countries that were “already at the breaking point
,” according to a United Nations official, are seeing their refugee crises
expand – as are the ministries providing relief.
“The
Paris attack has affected us in Jordan very much,” said the director of one
ministry serving refugees. “And it has affected the refugees themselves, because
now they have lost hope of going to Europe and starting their lives there.”
Before
the Paris attacks, most Syrian refugees (more than 4 million) had gone to
neighboring countries like Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, compared with only
700,000 going to European countries – chiefly Germany, Sweden and Serbia,
according to online news site vox.com.
While
the number of refugees leaving Turkey for Europe has gone down, according to the
director of a ministry native to Turkey, the number of refugees fleeing to
Turkey has not diminished, especially as Russian airstrikes supposed to be
directed at ISIS have driven out more Syrians.
“Those
countries in the middle of Europe have closed their doors to receive refugees,
and the news is being spread around in the camps here,” he said. “So they are
choosing to stay in Turkey. Also, now the opportunity to sail by boat to other
countries is becoming more difficult for them, due to the agreement between the
Turkish and European governments over the past few months, so those choosing to
leave Turkey have slowed down considerably.”
Refugees
who have tried to flee are doubling back, he said, further burdening indigenous
ministries that Christian Aid Mission assists. Christian Aid assists five
ministries in Turkey as well as 16 in the Middle East providing aid while
sharing the love of Christ to refugees and displaced families in Syria.
“This
has increased the need for our help, because a number of families sold all their
possessions or gave them away, saying, 'We're going to Europe,' but then they
were sent back and are now having to find needed possessions again,” he said.
“This is particularly the case with those who tried to enter Europe by boat.
They may have left from Izmir [in western Turkey], but then returned to the
north on the Black Sea, where we are serving them. They need tents, heating
devices, and all the other needs for survival.”
Leading
churches in Samsun and other sites along the Black Sea, the ministry director
said the refugees are also testing the young Christian fellowships, where
Arabic-speaking or Kurdish-speaking Syrians have few means to explain that they
do not constitute a threat.
“Although
[Turkish] brothers and sisters don't say it openly, they hold back from being
friendly to the refugees coming for aid from us,” he said. “One can sense that
the refugees themselves are feeling judged and looked over as though they may be
affiliated with ISIS and are dangerous. This makes them feel ashamed, when
really they want to be connected but can't make that clear to the church
members.”
Many
Turks were wary of hiring Syrians or renting apartments to them even before the
Paris attacks, and the refugees are even more vulnerable and in need of aid now,
he said.
“With
your help in sending finances, we are providing the best we can for those who
come,” he said. “We will not back down from helping these needy people. And our
hope is in the God who turns evil into good, and does miracles to turn the
hearts of mankind from terror to searching for God's goodness. There are people
having experienced the terror of ISIS who come to me saying, 'I want to be a
Christian.'“
In
Spain, which agreed in September to accept 15,000 Syrian refugees with larger
contingents to come next year, the director of a ministry providing relief
echoed the Turkish ministry director's challenges.
“Now
they cannot leave Spain to France and Germany, so our job is bigger,” he said.
“Also we need prayer, because some Christian leaders decided not to work with
them because they are afraid, but my team is ready to do what is necessary.”
For
more information, click here: http://www.christianaid.org/News/2015/mir20151126.aspx
, where you can find more information on how you can help with this
situation.
Photo
Captions: 1) Families fleeing terrorism and war in Syria are facing unfounded
suspicions of being terrorists themselves. (Credit: Christian Aid Mission). 2)
Syrians in a refugee camp in Adana, Turkey are presenting greater needs as their
numbers grow. (Credit: Christian Aid Mission)
Christian
Aid Mission (http://www.christianaid.org)
is an evangelical missionary organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia,
that assists indigenous missionary ministries overseas through prayer, advocacy
and financial support. Since 1953, Christian Aid Mission has identified,
evaluated and assisted more than 1,500 ministries in more than 130 countries
that are reaching the unreached for Christ in areas of the world where there is
no witness for Christ, where Christians suffer from poverty or persecution, or
where foreign missionaries are not allowed.
**
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