Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Amman (Agenzia Fides) - Little Aisha, born on May 27, is the thousandth among infants born in the clinic in the Zaatari refugee camp, 80 kilometers northeast of Amman, where there are at least 85 thousand Syrian refugees. According to UN bodies that keep track of new births in Zaatari, after Aisha, in the same refugee camp, another 30 children have already been born, and since the beginning of the year 37 pregnancies were brought to term by girls under the age of 18. "It is a fact that strikes us" says to Fides the Director of Caritas Jordan, Wael Suleiman, "especially if one takes into account that it is referred only to the population in Zaatari. Throughout Jordan now there are a million and 400 thousand Syrian refugees, and among them thousands and thousands of children are born. Many women flee from Syria just because they are pregnant and want to give birth in a place that ensures minimum health care, while in the towns and villages from which they fled hospitals and clinics have been destroyed by the conflict or are used only to treat the wounded. "Of course", added Suleiman "these young are born in refugee camps as signs of hope in a situation that seems to have no hope, where also cases of violence occur, and that challenges the international community in their efforts to ensure a decent future".
On June 18 Wael Suleiman was awarded the "Caritas Prix 2014" in Lucerne by Caritas Switzerland for the work supported by Caritas Jordan in favor of Syrian refugees. "Refugees" Suleiman told Fides, "are tired of the war, they have come and continue to come to Jordan to live in peace. Yesterday 570 arrived. They do not want to create problems and in this sense, in my opinion, their presence does not in any way contribute to the risk that Jordan is plagued by conflicts that surround us". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 24/06/2014)
