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Muslims and Christian Arabs Put Aside Differences and Unite to Aid Refugees

Episcopal News Service. March 21, 1991 [91070]

Julie A. Wortman, Staff Writer for Episcopal Life

Jordanian Christians and Muslims have put aside their historic differences and joined forces in an unprecedented effort to provide emergency relief for refugees fleeing Iraq and Kuwait during the Persian Gulf crisis.

The unusual interfaith alliance was forged under the leadership of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in response to an appeal from the Jordanian government, said Daniel Chelliah of Episcopal Migration Ministries.

"Reconciliation and trust is being built through direct actions, by responding to real needs now," Chelliah said.

Calling their refugee work "evangelism in action," Chelliah said Jordan's Christian minority, like those in other Mideast countries, have been "bearing the cross" amid increasing tensions between Arabs and the West. Although Arab Muslims and Christians often view each other with suspicion, the recent relief effort has forged a common bond between the two groups.

Chelliah, who previously worked for the MECC, has helped funnel much of the more than $100,000 earmarked for the Persian Gulf from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief to the Jordanian relief effort. The Diocese of Jerusalem, which includes Jordan, and ecumenical agencies have served as conduits for the money.

The sudden influx of evacuees from Kuwait and Iraq began shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait last August. Most of them were citizens of Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka who were working in the two Arab countries to support families back home. Within two weeks, an estimated 60,000 were stranded without shelter or water in Jordan's eastern desert. Many were in need of medical attention because of severe dehydration, stress, and fever.

Nearly 200,000 Palestinians also crossed from Iraq into Jordan during the conflict, according to Chelliah. Up to 100,000 more are expected now that the fighting has ended and the Kuwaiti government has begun expelling Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Iraq. Most will swell the ranks of the already crowded Palestinian refugee camps on the East Bank of the Jordan River.

Thousands of Somalians, Eritreans, Sudanese, and Vietnamese are still stranded in the evacuee camps of Jordan, unable to return to their countries of origin because of civil conflicts at home, Chelliah said. Efforts to find them asylum are under way, but the costs will be steep. The World Council of Churches, which initially asked American churches and humanitarian agencies to contribute $300,000 to the emergency relief effort, has increased its request to $1 million.