Rome, Italy, Aug 27, 2007 / 07:57 am
The plight of the Iraqi Christian community is one that is quite desperate even though it has existed for centuries. In response to the dire situation, Iraqi Christians in Need (ICIN) has been founded to provide money for food, medicine and education.
A recent UN Refugee Agency report states that 44% of the refugees that enter Syria are Christians even though they compromise only 4% of the total population.
The new agency provides funding for food, medicine and education through local churches.
Vatican Radio’s Susie Hodges spoke with ICIN’s Suha Rassam, about the new organization. Rassam said, “Since the very early the beginnings of 2003 in the form of riots, kidnappings, extortions, you may say that they have affected all Iraqi citizens, that is true, but from the beginning it was more common among the Christians. Recently, however, there have been direct threats asking them to convert to Islam or leave their homes.”