Posted on 11/28/2014 5:36:53 AM PST by marshmallow
Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 26, 2014 / 04:43 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, and especially since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey has become the destination—or passage way—for hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of them Christians.
Many, too, are young, single people, prepared to take great risks. In early November, a boat carrying illegal migrants from Turkey to Bulgaria capsized just after coming through the Straits of the Bosporus.
The bulk of refugees end up in Istanbul, the vast metropolis capable of absorbing so many peoples.
“It is difficult to know exactly how many Christians there are, since neither the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Churches themselves keep any sort of head count according to religious affiliation. We welcome all those who are in need and come to us,” Bishop François Yakan, the patriarchal vicar for the Chaldeans of Turkey, told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
Most of the refugees are dreaming of a new start in Europe or the US. But that can take a very long time. Meanwhile, in Turkey refugees have no official right to work.
“Sometimes they have to wait for years, and it is terrible for families who have been scattered and dispersed to the four corners of the earth. I cannot resolve all the situations,” said the bishop, who works closely with the UN, the Turkish government and both domestic and international humanitarian associations.
The main countries offering visas are the United States, Canada and Australia. Europe has closed its doors, except in very exceptional circumstances, as happened this summer when France and Germany opened their doors to Christians and Yazidis forced out by ISIS from Mosul and other cities on the......
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
It is a most powerful thing, the Pope’s visit to Turkey. I hope that good things come from it.
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