Jordan

by Daniele Frison | GATEWAY TO THE EAST

The Syrian community in Jordan (1.3 million) remains trapped between poverty and cuts in international aid, which have increased since the fall of the Assad regime. According to the UNHCR, few Syrians have returned home. "My house was destroyed,” one refugee told AsiaNews. He wonders how he can go back to a place without work. In Mafraq, near the Za'atari camp, people barely survive. Relations between Jordan and Syria rekindle hopes, but the future remains uncertain.


The Vatican Secretary of State, who presided over the consecration of the Latin Church at Al-Maghtas on behalf of Pope Francis, made a new appeal for a ceasefire, hostage release, and peace based on coexistence between peoples. For Card Pizzaballa, the new church is “a gift from the local Church” to pilgrims from all over the world. Priests and Sisters of the Incarnate Word will provide spiritual outreach at the site. Gaza’s parish priest belongs to the same institute.

| 10/01/2025
| JORDAN

Card Pietro Parolin will preside over the solemn ceremony as papal legate on 10 January. The structure stands on land in the Wadi al-Kharrar area donated by King Abdullah II where the Franciscan archaeologist Michele Piccirillo excavated some of the churches built by the first Christian communities to remember the Gospel story, whose two-thousandth anniversary will be celebrated here in 2030.

| 04/01/2025
| HOLY LAND
by Daniele Frison

Two days after the attack on the Allenby crossing, Jordan goes to the polls with a population deeply marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the government maintains its delicate diplomatic balancing act, Caritas Jordan continues its work in support of the local and refugee communities, with a particular focus on the latest arrivals from Sudan. For Lana Snobar, “Dealing with mental health significantly improves our communities.”

| 10/09/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST

Today's news: 2.3 billion deal between Emirates and Jordan for a railway line. Beijing ‘warns’ students with access to sensitive data about national security risks. Over 100,000 people at the torchlight procession in Kolkata a month after the rape and murder of a female doctor. One thousand civilians ‘trapped’ in a Buddhist monastery by fighting in the Sagaing region of Myanmar.

| 05/09/2024
| ASIA TODAY
by Dario Salvi

In AsiaNews, the Jordanian scholar underlines the degree of ‘autonomy’ with which Nasrallah moves, who has turned Lebanon into the ‘front line’ to protect Tehran's interests. The militias supported by the Islamic Republic in the various countries of the Middle East are useful in pursuing the strategy of chaos. Pezeshkian ‘dialogue’ face with the West to ease sanctions.

| 27/08/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
by Daniele Frison

In a stormy Middle East, the Hashemite kingdom stresses its stability, which rests on the 1994 peace deal with Israel. King Abdullah II told Biden that the ceasefire in Gaza is the first step towards de-escalation. He also condemned Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's incursion at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Protests continue in Amman after Friday prayers in the wake of Ismail Haniyeh’s killing.

| 14/08/2024
| JORDAN
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”