A year after tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians fled communities overtaken by Islamic State militants, their lives are on hold in exile: They won't go back to Iraq, saying it's not safe for Christians, but as refugees they're barred from working in temporary asylum countries such as Jordan. Expectations of quick resettlement to the West have been dashed.
"We've lost hope in everything," said Hinda Ablahat, a 67-year-old widow who lives with dozens of fellow refugees in plywood cubicles set up in a church compound in downtown Amman, the capital of Jordan. "We've been sitting here for a year and nothing's happened."
About 7,000 Christians from northern Iraq have found refuge in Jordan, including about 2,000 living in church-sponsored shelters.
Last evening, Patriarch Louis Sako of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church and Jerusalem-based Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal led hundreds of worshippers in an outdoor prayer service in the town of Fuheis, near Amman, to mark a year since the Iraqi Christians' displacement.
The service included a message of encouragement from Pope Francis, saying he is appealing for solidarity with those victimised by fanaticism and intolerance, "often under the eyes and in the silence of all." The church "does not forget and does not abandon her children who have been exiled on account of their faith," read the message, first published late last week.
The words rang hollow to some in the crowd.
"Everyone has forgotten us," said Johnny al-Behno, 25, standing in the back with friends. Al-Behno holds an engineering degree, but is forced to live off dwindling savings because of the ban on working.
Jordan struggles with high unemployment and says it cannot afford to integrate hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the labor force.
The Christian exodus began a year ago when Islamic State militants swept across northern Iraq, targeting indigenous religious minorities. The militants forced out most of the area's 120,000 Christians, many of whom now live in the nearby semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Bahnam Atallah, 47, said he and his family fled their hometown of Qaraqosh, near Mosul, on Aug. 6, 2014.
Islamic State had been shelling the town all day, Atallah said. The family of six fled for safety at nightfall to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, with just two small duffel bags holding clothes, passports and family photos. The drive normally takes less than an hour, but thousands were fleeing and the Atallahs only arrived in Erbil after midnight.
After three months, they relocated to Jordan, while oldest son Andre left for studies abroad.
