Caritas Lebanon Director speaks on
Syrian refugees
Lebanon
is appealing to the international community for aid as the country works to
provide humanitarian care for displaced persons fleeing the violence in Syria.
A recent report from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says there are some 139,000
registered refugees from Syria, with more than 55,000 awaiting registration in
Lebanon. Syria’s two-year civil war is responsible for the deaths of at least
60,000 people, according to a UN estimate released earlier this month. Meanwhile,
hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the
conflict.
Caritas Lebanon President Fr Simon Faddoul
President
of Caritas Internationalis Lebanon Fr Simon Faddoul spoke with Ann Schneible
about the humanitarian situation on the ground for refugees, and for Christians
in the region.
“The
current situation in Lebanon,” Fr Faddoul said, “is an unstable situation, at
all levels: Security wise, and economically and politically, and socially.”
“Most
of the refugees have come to areas that are already poor… which makes things much
harder. You cannot just think of the refugee, but you think of the host family.
It has become very hard,” he said.
Fr Faddoul spoke also about providing pastoral care to those refugees coming to Lebanon, taking into account that the vast majority are Muslim, with Christians comprising a small minority.
“There
is, first, a common approach to all,” he explained, “that the human touch is
more important than the materialistic needs. It’s not important what you give;
it’s important how you give it.”
Source:
Vatican Radio
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