New Church Appeal to Support Displaced Iraqis

The global church coalition Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is appealing to Christians and Christian organisations worldwide to donate to its new $900,000 appeal to bring vital support to displaced Iraqis.

The announcement of the appeal comes not long after Baghdad's Armenian Archbishop Avak Asadourian spoke of a "bungled war with tragic results" in Iraq.

The funds will go towards meeting the urgent needs of the estimated 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled to neighbouring Syria and Jordan in the last four years, as well as those displaced internally within Iraq.

An estimated 2,000 Iraqis are fleeing the violence each day because of sectarian conflict and clashes with foreign troops.

According to Wafa Goussous, who works for local ACT member Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in Jordan, Iraqi refugees in Jordan are being denied the right to work.

"It means that the majority of the Iraqi refugees depend on support from aid agencies and relatives living abroad," he said.

The estimated 1.5 million Iraqis who have sought shelter in Syria face similar hardships. Samer Lahham, who heads up the Damascus MECC office said, "Many families have been affected by the war in Iraq. It is important that we show solidarity with the people in addressing the situation in Syria."

ACT members the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), which has supported Iraqis since 2003,and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), in Iraq for a decade, are also hard at work in the troubled region.

The IOCC's regional director, George Antoon, said that the situation for Iraqis displaced within Iraq is equally desperate.

"Families inside Iraq do not have anything to live on. They are stuck in Iraq, (often) with no relatives abroad to help and support them," he said.

The NCA's support has included providing access to safe water through water and sanitation programmes, and school work with Iraqi youth in NCA-run youth centres - or "safe havens" as the NCA's acting representative in the region Heidi Thorstensen calls them.

"We have activities for both boys and girls, regardless of their faith background ... Muslims and Christians attend school together. The centres are seen as a source of hope for unity in a country," she said.

The MECC, meanwhile, is distributing clothes, toys, blankets and education items to Iraqi refugees in Jordan in partnership with the US-based ACT member Church World Service.

The 'Assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in Iraq, Jordan and Syria' appeal will run over ten months.