Source: INcontext Ministries, September 2015
An email currently circulating Christian networks calls for an “explanation” for a number of assertions regarding the Syrian refugees arriving in Europe from war-torn destinations. The email reads as follows:
“Can someone please explain the following regarding the Syrian refugees arriving in Europe from worn-torn destinations?
- How come they all seem to have endless supplies of money to pay the people traffickers?
- Most appear to have working mobile phones.
- Most appear well dressed and fed and do not appear to be suffering the effects of malnutrition.
- Most of the refugees are men of military age.
- Why are other Muslim nations not helping their fellow Muslims (Saudi, Kuwait, U.A.E., Indonesia to name a few)?
- How come the two boys and their mother drowned off the Turkish coast can be returned for burial to the place they fled so quickly, what I believed to be IS-held territory?
“Could it be they are being paid to come to Europe as a way to increase the Muslim population and get IS fighters embedded in Europe? We all know life is cheap from an IS point so the loss of a few lives along the way has no meaning for them as long as it benefits their cause.
“Just a thought.”
» Read INcontext’s response to these assertions (which they see as quite misleading) and their recent report in World In Motion.
» See also a couple of great videos: The Refugee Crisis: Time for Some Perspective (IRIN) and The European Refugee Crisis and Syria Explained (In A Nutshell), and also IRIN’s Humans of Syria where you can meet some of the professional people now called refugees. The Brookings Institute has some stats that might surprise you. Check out Much Ado About Nothing? The Economic Impact of Refugee “Invasions” and Is the Refugee Crisis an Opportunity for Aging Europe?
Finally, I am excited about some cool ideas about reaching refugees coming from the Mobile Ministry Forum. Read about them in Can We Offer Hope in this Refugee Crisis?