Economic pressures to blame, but other reasons not ruled out
AMMAN -- While Christian emigration from the Middle East is mostly attributed to political pressures, concerned organisations and individuals in Jordan blame the economic situation for prompting many Christian families and youth to settle abroad, especially in Western countries.
Almost all stakeholders agree that emigration of Christians from Jordan is a real phenomenon, so much so that a society has been established to address the problem.
None of these stakeholders, however, has figures on the extent of this emigration, while those who are studying the trend are keeping their findings away from the media's reach.
General Secretary of Church Leaders in Jordan Father Hanna Kildani said that Jordanian Christian emigration is "stable", and is mostly attributed to economic factors.
However, he acknowledged that the past few years have seen changes, such as the rise of religious extremism in the region, that have scared off some families, who decided to leave for what they see as safer places to live.
Some Christians emigrate for other reasons, Kildani said, although they remain isolated cases.
"There have been individual cases in which emigration was because of the challenges arising from mixed marriages," he told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.
Majda Ayoub, 42, originally from Husson in Irbid Governorate, emigrated to the US with her family as a child but after marriage, she decided to come back with her husband and two children, settle in Jordan and start a private business.
But three years later, Majda's family returned to the US for good.
"The fear of the unknown future of Jordan and the intense instability in the region gave us second thoughts," she told The Jordan Times via Facebook.
After relocating to Canada six months ago, Fadi Sharaiha, a 40-year-old father of two, said his decision to emigrate was motivated by a combination of several reasons, including political fears and a sense of insecurity among some Christians about their future as a minority.
"Basically, I needed the exposure to broaden my career horizons as well as to give my children a better education and thus a better future," he told The Jordan Times.
"Political instability in the Middle East, especially in neighbouring countries, made plan 'B' [emigration] inevitable," he said.
Churches concerned
Father Kildani said that the Catholic Church encourages Christians to live abroad only for the purpose of education, and on the condition that they return and benefit their home country.
"The church does not support emigration from the Kingdom, but at the same time cannot stop it," Father Kildani told The Jordan Times.
Tayseer Ammari, spokesperson of the Group to Halt Emigration of the Mideast's Arab Christians, saw the problem as part of a wider conspiracy.
The steady emigration of Christians from the Middle East, he said, is the fruit of a "scheme that targets coexistence and toleration", in reference to Israeli plans to empty Jerusalem in particular of its Christian residents.
He said Israeli leaders would be happy to see the entire Middle East with no Christians left "to convince the world that the conflict in the region is between them and Islam".
However, "while Christian emigration from Iraq and Palestine is compulsory, in Jordan it is voluntary and is due to economic and social reasons", he explained.
Statistics blurry
According to Caritas-Jordan Programme Manager Omar Abawi, Christians in Jordan constitute 3 per cent of the Kingdom's population of over six million.
But emigration itself makes these figures uncertain, due to the fact that those who emigrate and start families often do not register their children as Jordanian but rather take the nationality of the country in which they settle, according to Abawi.
He acknowledged that there is a problem, but declined to give any figures.
He noted that families tend to emigrate to specific countries such as Canada, America and Australia, while single men and women go to the Gulf States for better jobs and most of them come back.
What worries him, however, is when Christians think that "change is now", meaning that they reach the moment to see that the political, social and economic situation is too bad for them to stay.
"The need for change is not urgent like in Lebanon, Palestine or Iraq, but it has started to present itself gradually in Jordan, not for any pressing reasons but for the sake of change and a better future, as some thinks."
Social imbalances
Abawi said the possibility of a negative impact on the social balance of Christian families in Jordan cannot be ruled out.
"If this phenomenon persists, it will affect the social balance as the community will increasingly shrink," he warned.
The fact that young people emigrate, leaving behind their parents, and then get married to foreigners instead of other Jordanian Christians, is also a source of concern.
Samia Qubian's eldest son went to finish his master's degree in the UK, but ended up not only completing his PhD, but also going on to work and live there.
She said that she is happy that her son, 31, has secured himself a good job and is financially comfortable, but as a mother she would prefer that he eventually come back, marry a Jordanian and establish a family.
"I know that living abroad offers better job opportunities, but I constantly tell him that money is not everything, family is."
Caritas-Jordan is launching a new project to be implemented in 2012, which aims at reinforcing the parish to contribute to maintaining the Christian presence in Jordan and the wider Middle East, according to Abawi.
Father Rifat Bader, member of the executive committee of the Middle East Council of Churches, sees the issue from a different perspective.
"Christians in the Arab world have made significant contributions to the Arab civilisation and still do," he said in an interview.
If these talented people fear for their security or the future of their children, they will add to the problem of brain drain and deprive their countries of their contributions, according to Father Bader.
Christians in Jordan are protected by the Constitution and laws, which treat all Jordanians equally regardless of their religion, and there is mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Muslims in Jordan, setting a brilliant example of coexistence for the world, he added.
In Islam, Christians are looked upon not as minority but as citizens with full rights and obligations as mentioned in the Madina Munawara Agreement issued by Prophet Mohammad, according to Wael Arabiat, an Islamic law professor at the University of Jordan.
Arabiat quoted the prophet as saying: "Whoever harms a dhimmi (Christian or Jew living in a Muslim society) harms me."
Father Bader referred to the "Message to the People of God" sent in October 2010 by the Synod of Bishops to the Middle East, which commended the relationship between Christians and Muslims and urged those who emigrated for reasons of insecurity not to abandon their home country completely but to keep their country alive in their hearts and prayers.
"You can contribute to their development and their growth by your prayers, thoughts, visits and other various means despite the fact that you are far away from the Middle East," the message read.
Meanwhile, Qubian, speaking on behalf of all Jordanian mothers who miss their sons and daughters living abroad, said she is hoping for the political and economic situation to improve so that her son can come back to his country.
© Jordan Times 2012
