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| Metro Detroit's Chaldeans expand services for refugees |
| 2014-11-10 |
| Sterling Heights – — Metro Detroit is seeing an increase in immigration due to the turmoil in the Middle East, straining community services. With more than 400 Iraqi refugees, mainly Chaldeans, arriving each month, the Chaldean Community Foundation faces a growing demand for its services. The history of Chaldeans spans more than 5,000 years, dating back to Mesopotamia, which includes all of modern-day Iraq. Chaldeans are not Arabs; their language is Aramaic and they are Christians. May Seikaly is an associate professor of modern social history of the Middle East at Wayne State University. "Chaldeans are one of the Iraqi Christian groups," Seikaly said. "Chaldeans are a Catholic-Christian denomination; in other words, they follow the pope. The Chaldeans are prominent in Michigan and are better known and seen." Five Iraqi Christians refugees living in Michigan shared their stories of leaving behind family members, homes and careers, in order to find peace and religious freedom during an event hosted last month by New Detroit's Multicultural Leadership Series in West Bloomfield. None of the refugees who spoke at last month's series wanted to use their names, fearing for the lives of those they left behind. They talked of family members being held for ransom or murdered, their homes being bombed and being forced out of their jobs. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |