Rafedin sewing project at St Joseph Catholic Church in Amman
The Rafedin sewing project at St Joseph Catholic Church in Amman, Jordan has trained dozens of women who fled violence in Iraq to earn a living. The project was set up by Italian priest Mario Cornioli, along with Italian designers and tailors, in 2016 to help refugees supplement assistance from the UN. Over 120 women have benefited from the project, creating dresses, jackets, belts, and ties to sell in Amman and Italy to raise funds. Many of the women escaped the violence of the self-declared “caliphate” of the ISIS armed group.
Nael and her family returned home after ISIL was defeated in 2017, but they left again after being subjected to anonymous threats and eventually sought safety in Amman.
Their applications for asylum in Australia have been rejected.
“My father is old, and my mother has cancer,” she said, adding that going back to Iraq was out of the question. “We have nothing left there to return to.”
Diana Nabil, 29, worked as an accountant in Iraq before fleeing to Jordan in 2017 with her parents and aunt in the hope of joining her sister in Australia.
During her wait, she studied how to sew fabric and leather.
“Some of our relatives help us financially, and sometimes the United Nations helps us a bit,” Nabil said. “With my work here, we are managing.”
Cornioli said the project offers “the opportunity to learn something”, pointing to “success stories” of some women who have since left Jordan and are now working in Australia, Canada and the United States.
Wael Suleiman, head of the Catholic aid agency Caritas in Jordan, estimated that the country hosts as many as 13,000 Christian Iraqi refugees.
“They hope to obtain asylum and leave to a third country, but in light of what is going on in the world now, the doors seem to be closed to them,” Suleiman said.
“They are afraid of the future, and no one can blame them for that.”