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Christian Refugees Appeal to the West to Save them From Persecution

  • Amanda Casanova

    Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and…

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  • Updated Oct 07, 2015

Christian leaders in Syria, calling the crisis one of “biblical proportions,” are pleading with the West to help refugees who have fled the violence in Iraq and Syria.

Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan leads the world’s 158,000 Syria Catholics and told Christians that they need help in Syria and Iraq.

“We are begging the West to stand for the rights of all citizens in Iraq and Syria," he said, during a visit to Detroit.

The situation is very devastating and tragic. For Iraq, this has been happening for two generations. For Syria, the war has been taking place for the last three years, with no hope on the horizon for Christians in the area."

According to The Christian Post, Patriarch Younan said many Christians in Iraq and Syria are being executed or forced to convert to the Islamic State terror group’s ideas. Women and girls are also being trafficked as sex slaves.

"The crisis is evolving into more killings, more hostages and a struggle with no end in sight," he added. "We've been through these struggles for 14 months, since the fall of Mosul on June 10, 2014. Since then, all the Christian communities in northern Iraq have been wiped out.

"These nations must accept refugees. Surely, refuges are not the best way to solve the crisis. But if the world believes in freedom of movement and the right of immigration, then these countries must welcome the refugees from policies they helped create," Younan said.

Publication date: October 7, 2015