Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer. Isa 16:3,4

Going Deeper - refugeesGoing Deeper - refugees

1) 2m refugees in 2013, around 5m today

2) More than half the Syrian population is displaced

3) 55% of refugees and IDPs are children (so, about 5.5 million)

** IDP = “Internally Displaced Person” … someone driven from home but still in the same country 4) There are many

more female than male refugees from Syria

5) The pace of exodus is increasing6) People groups include Sunni Muslims, Turcoman, Alawites, Kurds, Yazidi and Christians

7) Almost half the Lebanese population is now believed to be refugees (formal or otherwise)

8) Turkey now has 2m Syrian refugees, with only 1 in 8 in the 25 camps

9) Refugees were staying in region in hopes of going home; now moving further to find better life for children

10) “Self-resettling” in Europe – 265,000 illegal crossings in 2014, and 325,000 by September of this year

What % of the UK population are refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons?

• 0.24%• 117,000 refugees (successful asylum

applicants)• 36,383 pending asylum cases (top 3

nationalities are Eritrean, Pakistani and Syrian)• 16 stateless persons

If the world’s refugees were a nation …

Bourj el Barajneh, a refugee “camp” in its third generation

Sustainable Development Goal 16

“Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”

refugeesin theBible

Adam and Eve …

Cut off from home, work, lifestyle, religion. New identity (clothes).

refugeesin theBible

Cain …

A restless wanderer

refugeesin theBible

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob …

Famine

Like fluttering birds    pushed from the nest,so are the women of Moab    at the fords of the Arnon.‘Make up your mind,’ Moab says.    ‘Render a decision.Make your shadow like night –    at high noon.Hide the fugitives,    do not betray the refugees.Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;    be their shelter from the destroyer.’

Isaiah 16:2-4 (NIV)

Judah

Moab

refugeesin theBible

Israel and Judah

Israel from 740 BCJudah taken 586 BC

refugeesin theBible

Jesus

“Out of Egypt I have called my son”

refugeestatusyour

Foreigners and strangers here on

earth … fellow citizens with all those who seek

the Kingdom built on the

cornerstone of Christ

credits

UNHCR.org.uk, published statistics (nb their official figures always grossly underestimate the true number of Syrian refugees due to under-reporting)

The Conflict in Syria: Understanding and Avoiding Regional Spillover Effects by William Young et al, Rand Corporation

Syrian Refugee Crisis in Maps, edmaps.com

Refugees and displacement (various resources), ODI.org

Map of Moab sites from http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/ot/plains_of_moab.html

Google maps

Cover photo, © World Vision International 2015