Photo via jewishjournal.com

Iraqi Christian refugees pine for home, but fear they face death

Iraqi Christians who have taken refuge in Syria yearn to go home, but the intimidation they faced in Iraq makes it difficult to return. "Although I had been threatened many times in Iraq, I did not want to leave," says the Armenian Orthodox hairdresser Cayran Vartan Roupen, reports Ecumenical News International. "But then my shop was burnt and the car of my husband, who used to work as a driver, was stolen. So we left everything behind and fled." When church leaders from around the world visited Syria in April, Iraqis who had fled their homes and their community for the hard life of refugees, said they felt a need to tell their stories to those they hope are empowered to assist in bringing an end to their tragedy.

[05/08/2008]

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