Hinweis zum Sprachgebrauch in älteren Beiträgen
Der folgende ältere Beitrag kann Sprache und Formulierungen enthalten, die heute nicht mehr den Ansprüchen einer diskriminierungsfreien und sensiblen Ausdrucksweise entsprechen. Er wurde im historischen Kontext verfasst und bewusst unverändert gelassen, um unsere jahrzehntelange Menschenrechtsarbeit zu dokumentieren.
On the occasion of the bestowing in Berlin of the Abraham Geiger Prize to Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) takes the opportunity of thanking the kingdom for generously taking refugees from Iraq. „The readiness of your country to grant asylum to hundreds of thousands of people seeking refuge has not only saved countless people their lives, but it shows the tolerance of your royal house towards other religious communities and ethnic groups“, says the letter of thanks of the GfbV General Secretary, Tilman Zülch. The kingdom has, in addition to its own approximately 5.3 million inhabitants, taken up nearly 750,000 refugees from Iraq, among them several thousand Assyro-Chaldaic Christians.
The GfbV described however as a sour note the fact that many of the Iraq refugees have to suffer great misery because the international community provides too little support in the management of the flood of refugees. The people seeking refuge in Jordan are only accepted as „guests“. They are not allowed to work and receive no financial aid for food. The standard of health care, which is free of charge, is very low. As everyone has to find his or her own accommodation the refugees find themselves cramped in the slums of Amman. Emergency accommodation has been found for the Christians in churches and monasteries. Many refugee children have not been to school for years because there is not enough room at the state schools, which do not charge fees. Only those children can go to school whose parents have valid visas for Jordan.
The GfbV appealed in its letter to the Prince to speak out for a relaxation of the regulations on the entry to the country for people seeking refuge from Iraq. Jordan tightened up its entry regulations on 15th February 2008. Now refugees no longer receive visas at the border, but have to apply for them in Iraq. In addition the visa is now no longer valid for six months, but only one. In order to stay legally in the country every refugee must then pay two dollars per day. This is something which many cannot afford.
The Abraham Geiger Prize is awarded for services to Judaism in its diversity. With it people are decorated who have performed valuable services for pluralism.
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