REFUGEES IN JORDAN Get Assistance

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hristians in Jordan are extending assistance to refugees from both Syria and Iraq that have taken refuge in the country with the assistance of the Baptist World Alliance, which provided an initial amount of US$10,000 since the start of 2016. The BWA has been a longtime supporter of refugee assistance in the Middle East region. Vera Haddad, partnership coordinator for the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development, told the Baptist World Alliance that though “the UN refugee agency says Jordan currently hosts over 650,000 Syrian refugees who

humanitarian assistance grows daily.” Furthermore, “many people who arrived to Jordan arrive with little money or with almost nothing to live on. They are ill-equipped for the cold or hot weather.”

Approximately 150 Iraqi Christian families who escaped ISIS persecution also received assistance. Haddad said “no relief is provided by government agencies” during their sojourn in Jordan. “Our end goal is to ease the suffering of the persecuted Christian families by meeting their basic needs of food and non- food items, and a means to begin healing with a supportive

Our end goal is to ease the suffering of persecuted Christian families by meeting their basic needs, and a means to begin healing with a supportive community and tools to navigate their present trauma.

are registered with UNHCR, the number of refugees exceeded one million with the unregistered numbers of refugees entering [via] the unofficial boarder.” UNHCR stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Haddad said “the growing influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan exceeds what the country can handle; the demand for

community and tools to navigate through their present trauma.” There was concern that the impending winter would have

made conditions more difficult for those who were displaced. “Thank God we did not have the snow that was predicted. This was an answer of prayer,” Haddad declared.

Wadha*, her husband and five children fled Syria because of the shelling and have been in Lebanon for three years, living in a tent.

APRIL/JUNE 2016

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