(Photo: AP / Samir Mizban)Iraqis run for cover after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of pilgrims in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 8, 2007. Chanting slogans of defiance against insurgents, Shiite pilgrims poured into a holy city south of Baghdad Thursday amid relentless attacks that have killed more than 170 people this week.
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International Christian relief agency World Vision is joining key coalitions in the United States and Europe to advocate for Iraqis who have fled across borders to escape violence in their homeland.
Immediate aid through partner organizations in Jordan has begun for the estimated 2 million Iraqis, and the possibility of seeking aid from other neighboring countries is also being investigated.
“This humanitarian crisis has been quietly unfolding for a long time, yet until just recently, it really has had no voice. But the suffering is real,” said Hendrik Harbers, World Vision’s relief coordinator for the Middle East, in a report by the organization's Middle East and Eastern European Regional Communications Team.
“None of the nations in the region receiving this massive outpouring of refugees have the infrastructure and services to accommodate such numbers. It is contributing to instability,” continued Harbers.
For this response, World Vision will support long-term partner organizations in providing food and non-food essentials, providing basic healthcare and non-formal education to Iraqi children, initially in Jordan.
The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) reports as many as 50,000 people are fleeing Iraq a month.
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Between 500,000 and 700,000 Iraqi refugees are in Jordan and 700,000 to 1 million in Syria. Others have fled to Egypt and Lebanon.
"World Vision has noted that Christians and other religious minorities are prominent among refugees in Jordan. Members of these groups say they are being targeted because of their beliefs”, said Sharon Payt, World Vision Advocacy Director.
“These communities are a stabilizing factor in the Middle East. Most of them are ancient communities. We will be including Christians and other minorities in our efforts to plead for all Iraqi refugees,” said Payt.
"All the Iraqis, Christians and Muslims, are living in a situation without solutions. You find tragedy after tragedy," said Father Khalil Jaar, parish priest at St. Mary of Nazareth Catholic Church in Amman and a long-time World Vision partner.
"All the world is coming against terrorism but can you imagine the terror these people live in. Who will have the courage to say to the important people that we need to help these people?" he said.
World Vision will support partner organizations in providing food and non-food essentials, providing basic health care and non-formal education to children.
