By Manuel Perez Bella

Rio de Janeiro, Sep 17 (EFE).- A Catholic church in Rio de Janeiro has become a welcoming shelter along the flight routes of Syrian refugees who leave their country because of the ongoing civil war there and move to Brazil.

Stories of bombardments, of families separated by war and fleeing on foot across international borders are exchanged among the nine Syrians who are currently housed in the San Juan Bautista church, an imposing 19th century building in the city’s Botafogo district.

Deeply moved by the refugees’ crisis, last year Rev. Alex Coelho decided to rehab a nearby house to take in selected refugees sent to him by the Catholic charity Caritas.

“I got started with it even before the pope spoke about it,” Coelho told EFE, expressing pride at to date having taken in about 40 refugees, most of them Syrians, but also people from Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ghana and Ukraine.

The number of refugees in Brazil has doubled in the last three years to a total – as of last month – of 8,400, of whom 2,077 are Syrians, according to official figures.

Upon their arrival at the church, the Syrians first see a sign written in Arabic saying “Welcome,” with Coelho having learned some of that language to facilitate his ability to receive the refugees.

“They arrive sad, upset, some deported from Europe. The Italian police beat one of them … When they arrive, I tell them that I am their brother. That creates ties of friendship,” Coelho said.

The Syrians have at their disposal a common bedroom, a kitchen, a secretary, Portuguese classes and a chapel where they can pray.

Parishioners make donations and some of them, doctors and dentists, attend to the refugees free of charge, and whoever can do so offers them employment, Coelho said.

The Syrians taken in by the church say that they decided to travel to Brazil because of the ease of getting a visa, but the majority of them ultimately intend to go to some European country, where they believe that they will find it easier to get work and join relatives.

Amad Bas, 43, says that four refugees tried to return to Turkey from Brazil with fake European passports to reunite with their families, but they ended up in police custody and are now facing charges.

“Anyone in my situation would have done the same thing. I haven’t been able to talk with my three children for a month-and-a-half,” said Bas, who has been in Rio for six months and left his family on the Turkish border.

Bas holds a degree in journalism and worked as a salesman in Syria, but he sees no chance of remaining in Brazil because he does not speak Portuguese, which makes looking for employment difficult.

“I want to live in any country that has a place for us, where my kids can grow up safely,” he said.

Sultan, 19, just received his return passport and is preparing to go to Turkey, a country he feels is “a good alternative” for him because he knows the language.

A minority of Syrians will remain in Brazil, however, a country they say they consider to be friendly and inviting, but they prefer to move to Sao Paulo state because that’s where Brazil’s largest Arab community is located and their integration will be easier there. EFE