Germany debates help for Syrian Christians
ICC Note:
Christians in Syria face “persecution of the highest order,” said Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany’s Interior Minister.
Despite opposition, Germany’s government is considering granting Syrian Christians a safe haven in their country, Deutsche Welle reports. While people from every political, ethnic, and religious background are suffering in Syria’s civil war, Christians have found themselves in a very unique and frightening situation, having widely chosen not to take up arms or to openly support either the rebels or the regime. While many Christians have publicly denounced the brutality of President Assad and by no means support the regime, most Christians see little hope in an alternative government which, they fear, will be led by Islamists who will hinder or outright abolish the religious freedoms long experienced by Christian in Syria. Additionally, Christians and their places of worship have been increasingly targeted by terrorist attacks, similar to what was seen in Iraq’s war that resulted in more than half the Christian population leaving the country following the US- led invasion in 2003.
By Martin Koch
11/13/2012 Syria (DW)- In Syria, the Christian minority was long left in peace by the Assad regime – but they are between the front lines in the civil war. Germany is considering offering them a safe haven.
Germany taking in Syrian Christians – it would be an act of humanity. This is how the chairman of Chancellor Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats’ parliamentary group, Volker Kauder, described it to the “Frankfurter Allgmeine Zeitung” daily. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich agreed in the newspaper to grant refuge to Syrian Christians, because they face “persecution of the highest order.”
Christians under pressure
Christians have lived in the area of modern Syria since their religion came into being about two thousand years ago. The Syrian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest churches. Some of the faithful still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Christians have always played a clear role in the present-day Syrian Arab Republic. In the 1940s, for example, the country had a Christian prime minister, Faris al-Churi.
In Syria, Christians make up 8 to 10 percent of the population. About two-thirds of them belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church; other major groups are Roman Catholics and Assyrians. Under President Bashar Assad, they lived relatively unmolested; in comparison to other countries in the Arab world, the Christians in Syria had a lot of freedom. But since the beginning of the uprising against the government, the regime has tried to portray the resistance as a religious rebellion and bring the Christians to its side. This makes them suspect in the eyes of some opponents of the regime.
For political scientist Ralph Ghadban, this impression is understandable. When fighting in Syria began 18 months ago, most official church representatives actually sided with Assad. But, Ghadban told DW, many Christians have since changed their attitude: For example, the newly elected Christian head of the opposition Syrian National Council, George Sabra, called for support to the rebels fighting the government.
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