(Syrian refugees at the Keleti railway station, Source: Wikipedia)
Here’s a story you probably won’t hear from the State Department.
Christian Daily reports Syrian Christians are setting up relief stations for thousands of Muslim refugees still living in the country, but whose lives and homes have been wrecked by the nation's ongoing civil war.
Though about 60 percent of Syrian Christians have left the nation’s capital of Aleppo, many of the churches that remain have opened their doors to the city’s wounded and homeless, many of whom are Muslims. The report states the Saint Elias Cathedral, an Orthodox Christian church, provides about 150 families with hot meals, medicine, housing and other essentials daily.
Aleppo's Orthodox Church is caring for about 4,000 displaced families. About half of the families are Muslims, while the other half are Christians.
From the report:
Meanwhile, a Jesuit priest in Aleppo previously described the situation in the city and told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about how Christians continue to help the remaining people despite the more intense fighting in the area. Fr. Ziad Hilal said the Church has provided food for the hungry residents through a kitchen at the Missionaries of Mary facility, Christian Today details.
Fr. Hilal also said many of those who benefit from 7,500 meals they give away daily are Muslims. The priest added that the Church continues to facilitate mass, baptisms, and even weddings despite the war, and these happenings give them hope.
Hilal also told Christian Today that between 27,000 and 30,000 Christians have fled Aleppo since 2011, accounting for about 60 percent of the city’s prewar Christian population.
But wherever those Christians are going, it certainly isn’t the United States. Cnsnews.com reported Monday that of the 9,144 Syrian refugees the U.S. has admitted so far in FY2016, only 47 are Christians. The State Department reported admitting only 12 Christian refugees from the war-torn nation in the month of August.
Meanwhile, the administration has admitted 8,984 Sunni Muslims – 98.2 percent of the total number admitted this fiscal year – according to State Department Refugee Processing Center data.