Cathal Barry Irish charity which monitors Christian persecution worldwide has welcomed the Government’s decision
An Irish charity which monitors Christian persecution worldwide has welcomed the Government’s decision to grant only Syrian refugees asylum this year and hopes Christians from the strife-torn country will be among those provided refuge.
It is understood Ireland is devoting its entire 2014 resettlement quota to Syrian refugees having become a member of the core Working Group on Syrian Refugees following a request from the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to countries to join.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week, David Turner, director of Church in Chains said: “While we would not call on the Government to only prioritise Christian refugees we would hope to see some Christians amongst those who are granted asylum.
“There is an absolutely huge need for Syrian refugees, particularly Christians, to set up new homes after being forced to flee the conflict. We would obviously prefer if Syrians could set up safe homes in their own country but we do welcome the Government’s decision to allow some Syrians to resettle in Ireland in this case,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told this paperthe idea of only resettling Syrian refugees this year is to “relieve the pressure on the countries like Jordan and Lebanon who are hosting large numbers of refugees, to show solidarity with them and to encourage them to keep their doors open as it were”.