Syrian Christians suffer from international sanctions
International sanctions are the main cause of suffering for the civilian population in Syria today. They do not hit the political system, but ordinary people and families," says Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh, Pastor of the Latin parish in Aleppo. He emphasised that the situation of the Syrians is tense.
The Aleppo Franciscans have been hit by the pandemic crisis. In a community of five brothers, four were infected and two of them died.
These figures show the conditions under which Syrian Christians live today. Due to international sanctions, hospitals lack adequate equipment and medicines and transportation systems are paralysed.
Speaking to Vatican Radio, Fr Alsabagh emphasised that he never imagined that one could live in such conditions.
“The situation is much worse than during the war. It’s true that then the bombs were falling, we had no electricity, no water, but somehow we were prepared for it. Life during the war was very difficult, but it was all within our ideas about the war. And it was easier to bear,” the priest explained.
“It is much more difficult now because it all overlaps with the economic crisis and the sanitary crisis related to the coronavirus,” he concluded.
Source: vaticannews.va
