Repatriation and ending wars are the solutions to terrorism, says Christian leader

Chiqui Guyjoco Friday, July 01, 2016

Refugees are recruited by terrorists so permanent repatriation and ending wars are the solutions to terrorism and humanitarian crisis, according to the patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church.

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai said the state of depravity among Middle Eastern refugees makes them easy recruits for terrorist activities and that resettling refugees to other countries is not enough.

Migrants sleep inside "Captain Elias", a derelict hotel on the Greek island of Kos, August 16, 2015. Hundreds of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Asia have found temporary refuge in the abandoned Captain Elias hotel, a two-storey building with a crumbling exterior. | REUTERS/AlkisKonstantinidis

"A political solution to the conflicts ought to be the top priority, and a just, global and permanent peace should be established as soon as possible," said Cardinal Rai, as reported by Catholic News Service.

The cardinal spoke at Catholic Near East Welfare Association headquarters in New York on Tuesday, June 28 during his pastoral visit to the United States.

"They should also stop wars, because every day we are at war, we're creating new refugees," said the cardinal about what the international community can do to help solve the crisis.

He added that "terrorists recruit among the refugees" because the refugees need the money that the terrorists pay for their service.

For Cardinal Rai, the root of the Middle Eastern problems is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He believes Palestine should be allowed to establish its own state for the conflicts to end. Countries should also observe the separation of church and state. The Maronite patriarch thinks his country Lebanon, which hosts the second largest number of Syrian refugees, is a good model for this system.

However, Lebanon has a presidential vacuum since May 2014, something which the Maronite Catholic Bishops decried during their annual synod held June 13-17 at the patriarchal seat of Bkerke, north of Beirut. They also denounced the state of poverty the Christians are subjected to in the Middle East because of the conflicts.

"I don't know how Lebanon is surviving," said Cardinal Rai. "It's a miracle it's still functioning. The refugees are living in misery. No human should be subjected to such misery."