Priest Peter Brenkus (L) of Serenity and Good gives holy Communion to Assyrian Christians at the end of mass celebrated together with Father Douglas Bazi upon Assyrians'arrival. (source: TASR)
The quarantine in the Humenné (Prešov Region) camp, which started due to the chickenpox epidemic, ended already ten days ago, Interior Ministry spokesperson Petar Lazarov informed the SITA newswire. The first families to leave Humenne did so due to health problems, like the surgery of a small boy and a health condition after a stroke or pregnancy.
The ministry refused to specify their place of stay, Lazarov said, citing their security as the reason. However, all refugees still have permanent residence in Humenné and continue the integration process as rendered by the Pokoj a Dobro (Peace and Good) civic association in cooperation with Church, as supervised by the Interior Ministry’s migration office.
The group of Assyrian Christians arrived in Slovakia on December 10 from Iraq, from the area around the city of Mosul, i.e. Assyria, which has been invaded by the Islamic State who drive out Christians.
Accepting these Christian families is part of the voluntary contribution of Slovakia towards the solution of migration crisis. The preparation itself took 15 months. A total of 25 families arrived here, including adult men, women, children and elders. They had been living in a monastery before coming to Slovakia, but if they stayed, they would risk death.
This is the first and so far the only group of refugees from the Middle East that Slovakia has accepted.
