The Christian bishop and Muslim mufti of Syria's Aleppo are working together to help the children of women who had been kidnapped and raped by Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) terrorists register for an official name so that they can have a chance at a future, Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for Pro Terra Sancta, a non-profit association run by the Franciscan friars and operating in Syria, told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2019) The Christian bishop and Muslim mufti of Syria's Aleppo are working together to help the children of women who had been kidnapped and raped by Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) terrorists register for an official name so that they can have a chance at a future, Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for Pro Terra Sancta, a non-profit association run by the Franciscan friars and operating in Syria, told Sputnik."We are doing a lot for orphans for children of women who were kidnapped by IS militants. There are 30,000 orphans in Syria who were born by women who were kidnapped by IS. They were just sex slaves of terrorists, and these children do not yet have the possibility to be registered [as a citizen] with a name, and so they cannot have a future. They cannot be registered because for the state, they are sons born in sin, outside of marriage, so it is not allowed," Avveduto said.
The association is working with Syria's Muslim religious officials on this initiative, dubbed "One name one future," to create a law that would allow these children have a name and be registered as citizens, Avveduto explained.
"Because if they have name, in future they will be able to have a life, to get education," he continued.
The project is supported by bishop George Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo, and Mahmoud Akam, Mufti of Aleppo, who first recognized the social emergency.
"These children are everywhere in Syria. Just in Aleppo, there are 5,000. It's catastrophic. The idea of this project was generated together by the bishop of Aleppo and mufti of Aleppo. It's the first multi-religious project in Syria since the beginning of the war," Avveduto said.
The initiative is currently being promoted through four centers in eastern Aleppo, where the religious community takes care of the children, teaches them "to speak, to read, to hope, with a lot of psychological effort."
"We teach them to write, to draw. These children draw horrible pictures - bombs or soldiers or people dead," he continued.
Apart from helping the marginalized children, Pro Terra Sancta is also trying to find permanent jobs for mothers.
Although negotiations with Syria's parliament have not brought any practical results thus far, Avveduto said he remained optimistic.
"Negotiations with the parliament are difficult, but there is a possibility [of getting its support], because the Mufti also spoke to them. If the Muslims and the Christians are together, there is a hope to win the battle," he said.
Pro Terra Sancta was set up in 2006 in Jerusalem with the goal of preserving the Holy places, support local communities and bring humanitarian aid. Its friars can be found in many places around the middle East, but primiarly in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. In Syria, they established four emergency centers in Damascus; war-torn Aleppo; Latakia, a city that welcomes many displaced people; and town of Knaye in Idlib province, which is still controlled by terrorists.
The organization is financed by public and private donations. According to Avveduto, public financing comes from "public foundations, like the peace conference of bishops, and other institutions from the European Union," while private contributions come mainly from Italy, where one of the organization's two headquarters located the other one is in Jerusalem. In the past seven years, they have collected millions of Dollars and claim that more than 20,000 people are helped every month through different avenues of support.
