Source: Christian Aid Mission, March 26, 2015
A Syrian Muslim who has no use of his hands or feet managed to flee to a Greek island off the coast of Turkey, where he faces new challenges to survive.
A doctor on the Greek island of Lesbos recently called the director of a ministry to Syrian refugees in Athens, called Bridge, to say that the disabled Syrian, Sami, was going to be released from an immigration detention center the following day—and that he had no accompanying relatives, friends, or money.
“We asked him how he came to Greece, and the answer was, ‘My co-travelers were carrying me on their backs on the mountains of Turkey till we reached the beach, and then I came by boat,” Voula Antouan said. “Easily you could see the despair and the questioning in his eyes, thinking that coming to Greece he would find everything waiting for him.”
The manager of an inexpensive hotel that previously had taken Syrian refugees told Antouan that he could not stay there, even with Bridge paying his bill; the manager said the elevator was too small for wheelchairs. When Antouan said they would handle the wheelchair and would provide all his meals, the hotel manager balked.
“No, you do not understand,” the manager said. “There is not even a handle in the bathroom. How can he manage it himself?”
The ministry’s search for more permanent housing was equally challenging. Lack of vacancy in an economically depressed country overrun with refugees, no facilities for people with special needs, and Sami’s unresolved legal status all blocked Bridge’s efforts.
» Read full story and another from Christian Aid about Burma’s Rugged Spiritual Landscape.
» Read about another amazing escape, this one involving Egyptian Christians in Libya.