The unified court in Houran handed over the Christian Evangelical Union church to Christian families in the village of Ghasam, east of Daraa, on Thursday, Oct. 4.
The move was the first of its kind following the displacement of most Christian families from the province over the last few years.
Sheikh Asmat al-Abasi, head of the Dar al-Adel (House of Justice) courthouse said that the house of worship and its property must belong to those who oversee them. The court delivered the church to the Christian residents of Ghasam after securing housing for a number of displaced people who were residing in the church over the last few years.
Abasi told All4Syria: “We will hand over all churches in Daraa to our Christian brothers responsible for them, regardless of whether they carry out religious rituals there or not. This issue will go to the residents and our role as a court is to provide factors to reassure them.”
“So far there is no Christian religious figure in the liberated areas in Houran and most of them are in the province of Suweida. We have communicated with them and they asked for guarantees that they will not be kidnapped or abused,” he said.
Closing his statement, Abasi said that “Houran does not accept grievance or injustice, and freedom does not permit oppression of the individual or the people.”
Activist Mohanad Anwar told All4Syria that there were five Christian families in the town of Ghasam, but said there was no religious figure in the town. He added that religious rituals had not been conducted in the church since 2013.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
