One of the highlights on any development trip abroad is the chance to meet the people we’re helping and working alongside. This most recent time in Turkey, I was able to visit several refugees’ homes and hear stories of how they escaped Syria and came to faith in Christ.
Nearly half a million Pakistanis are stranded in Bangladesh, according to some estimates. Their native country originally told them they would be repatriated within three years.
The Arab Spring in the early 2010s may seem like a distant memory for those outside of the Middle East, but for many Syrians, it still looms large over everyday life.
The recent pandemic continues to affect people around the world in ways that we could have never anticipated at the beginning of 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic closed many countries’ borders to protect people, but this also left many refugees stranded, separated from other family members or stuck in camps with limited access to aid.
With Lebanon’s economy and government in an uproar, many refugees are confronted with the possibility of having to flee again. Others are finding that, although ISIS no longer directly threatens them, quieter dangers are stalking their families.
As conflict flares up in the Middle East, refugees are pouring out of war-torn areas. Their flight often takes them into Turkey since it is more stable socially and politically.