Austria has 8.7 million inhabitants, and last year it took in 90,000 refugees: with the exception of Sweden, no other country in the European Union has taken in so many. AMAL is one of the Christian-inspired associations where people who want to help and support refugees collaborate.
AMAL is an Arabic word meaning hope. The association mainly accompanies families of Christian migrants, mostly from Syria and Iraq, who have already been granted asylum by the state and will remain in the country.
Imad, his wife Ghadir and their three children, ranging in age from 4 to 8 years old, are very grateful for AMAL's work. They are a Catholic family from Damascus, where Imad had a good job as a company manager. But the war came, and the persecution of Christians. The family fled to Austria on an eventful journey. "When we arrived in Austria, we explained to everyone that we were Christians. They were very surprised: here they did not know that there were Christians in Syria. We had to explain to them first that yes, indeed, there are Christians in Syria!"says Imad.
