Barnabas Fund reported in December that there have been wonderful responses from Western governments to the desperate plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria.
For many months Barnabas Fund has been raising awareness about the great danger facing Christians in the Middle East and drawing attention to the way they have been overlooked in many rescue programmes. After visiting a number of capital cities in Europe and initiating a major campaign in Australia, there are signs of a growing concern for suffering Christians.
Australia’s generosity
Thanks in part to a letter-writing campaign, the Australian Government has agreed to allow displaced Christians living in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to apply for a place under its Special Humanitarian Programme (SHP) that will provide 12,000 places for people displaced by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria – even if they do not live in recognised refugee camps.
This concession is a tremendous breakthrough after many months of explaining that the vast majority of displaced Christians in the Middle East do not live in refugee camps for fear of attack. It is hoped that at least half of these 12,000 places can be used to resettle Christians from the Middle East.
Barnabas Fund has committed to providing assistance for displaced Christians while they are living in the transit countries and to paying for their flights to Australia. Liaising with church leaders in the Middle East and in Australia, it can be ensured that they are resettled with dignity and love, and set on the path to integration within their new community.
Other helps
Barnabas Fund is also providing food, shelter and other basic needs for Iraqi and Syrian believers in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraqi Kurdistan.
In Jordan, 2,800 Iraqi and Syrian refugees, who have fled their homes and lost all their possessions, are being fed. Food is provided for 1,500 Syrian refugees in Turkey and 300 in Lebanon. In south Lebanon, housing for refugees is being built.
Barnabas Fund has committed to caring for 8,000 Christian refugees who have fled war-torn Syria to Armenia, a country that is an island of safety in a sea of turbulence. Armenian Christians have endured centuries of persecution, principally from Turkey and now from Islamic State (IS). Under the Ottoman Empire, over 1.5 million Armenians died in a genocide that spanned 30 years and peaked in 1915. Now a safe haven in the region, Armenia has welcomed over 16,000 Syrian believers, mostly from Aleppo, who have fled their country in search of safety.
