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Where Jesus would spend Christmas

I never understood the true meaning of Christmas - a story in which Jesus was born into a family that became refugees - until I visited the people who are now forced to call it home

Christmas
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<b>Photo: ISTOCK</b>

Stephanie Saldaña | NYT
In the city of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Christmas is approaching. A tree on the main square is alight in blue; a Nativity scene has Mary and Joseph standing vigil beside the baby Jesus. Locals are busily shopping for gifts and sipping coffee at cafes.

Just 15 minutes up the road, at the refugee and migrant camp called Moria, it is not Christmas but winter that is approaching. More than 6,000 souls fleeing the world’s most violent conflicts — in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo — are crowded in a space meant