By Misna
“This morning we had the opportunity to speak with King Abdullah
about the situation of Syrian refugees. Jordan is facing an
unprecedented influx of people with few resources”: thus did say to
MISNA Bishop Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of Djibouti and President of Caritas
Somalia, who has been visiting Amman for the meeting of Caritas Middle
East and North Africa.
“People fleeing conflict and violence are hungry. We are talking
about 380,000 people including many women and children in Jordan alone,
in addition to many in Lebanon and 15,000 in Turkey. These days we are
discussing how to coordinate aid and projects to provide support for the
refugee camps that have sprung up near the country’s borders,” said the
Bishop, pointing out that for those who remain in Syria the situation
is “equally, if not more, difficult. ”
“The families have difficulty finding enough food,” said the Chaldean
Bishop of Aleppo and president of Caritas Syria, Bishop Antoine Audo,
who was also in the Jordanian capital for the international Caritas
meeting. Apart from the most vulnerable, even people, once members of
the middle class are suffering, “who have trouble and feel shame at
having to seek help from charitable institutions,” observed the Bishop
of Syria’s second largest city, the scene of violent clashes that led to
the closure of more than 80% of the jobs that existed before the
conflict.
For this reason, the Jordanian king has called for the opening of
humanitarian corridors in the country to improve the living conditions
of the Syrian population and to reduce the influx of refugees headed for
the Hashemite Kingdom.
This year, the summit in Amman is being attended by more than 40
bishops, priests and heads of the various national structures. The
meeting was also attended by auxiliary Chaldean bishop of Baghdad
Shlemon Wardouni, President of Caritas Iraq, and Cardinal Robert Sarah,
and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.