Iraqi Christians: Fleeing Mosul

Oct. 28, 08

(BBC) -- Mosul in northern Iraq remains a fierce battleground for al-Qaeda militants. Violence against the city's Christian community spiked in early October, prompting more than 13,000 Christians to flee. BBCArabic.com spoke to a few of them sheltering in villages north of the city.

SOOAD, CIVIL SERVANT

I am a widow with four children under the age of eight.

We escaped leaving everything behind; the furniture and everything I've worked for all my life.

What happened in the days before we left is difficult to describe. We saw killings, kidnappings and people's houses being bombed. They entered our homes, took our men and killed them.

It is strange: we are peaceful and tolerant and have lived with our Muslim neighbours for many decades. We ate in their homes and they ate in ours - what has brought this sectarian strife to us?

At the moment we are living in a neighbourhood association building in Qosh [a village north of Mosul]. Approximately 10 families including ourselves, live in two rooms.

Of course we are grateful for the families of Qosh and the neighbours who bring us food every day. And we are also thankful to the monasteries and churches who have helped us. But how long are we going to stay like this for?

HANAA

I have four children and I decided to leave Mosul for their safety. My husband is so ill he refused to come with us. I live in constant worry.

Our Muslim neighbours have taken him in, so they can care for him. We live in harmony with our Muslim neighbours and they condemn what's happening to us.

My uncle's family received a letter, threatening to kill him unless he called a number they gave and offered money.

I was born in Mosul as were all of my family. It's difficult for us to leave. My female Muslim neighbour rang me today, she told me sadly that by going, we had taken the spirit of the area with us.

We cannot afford to leave our house and move to one of the villages, or to leave the country, or bribe our way to a safe European country.

The people with weapons follow your financial situation so closely. If they realise you have just sold your car, they'll come the next day to take the money you got for it.

SAEED

I am old and I am disabled, dating from the [Iran-Iraq] war. A male cousin of mine was assassinated, then one of my friends who is also disabled was murdered. I felt I was in danger, so I decided to leave.

Despite the fact all my friends, relatives and and neighbours refused to let me go, I had to leave. They are still calling me, saying "come back".

At the moment we are in Qosh. I don't have any direct relatives here, but the people of Qosh have become like family. We are orthodox, and they are Chaldean, but we are like family.

They have welcomed us to the extent of clearing their own families from their own homes - to create some room for us.

GEORGE

George is a member of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Council in Mosul, trying to help Christians who have fled their homes.

The exodus doesn't stop. We have found refugees places to stay in churches, monasteries, and people's spare rooms.

The big problem is the lack of governmental agencies. A fact-finding visit from an official means little for someone who has just left his home with nothing but the clothes he's wearing.

The government says it has sent forces to protect them - but how can they protect every Christian's house in Mosul? The solution should be a fundamental one, not a temporary one.

Two months ago there was a campaign to protect Mosul's Christians, but as soon as the Iraqi forces left, it went back to square one.

We have thousands of displaced people, some of whom are civil servants, students, university lecturers - what will happen to them?

Can Iraq - and the world - stand by with their arms crossed while an entire group of people is being displaced?

Translation: Abdirahim Saeed.

WebMaster's comments:

It is truly amazing that the Bush administration has shown no compassion to the persecuted Christians of Mosul nor it has made any attempts to help them in any way. The preponderance of evidence indicates these acts of terror were committed by Kurdish forces on the Christians of Mosul to drive them out of the region so that they could not vote in the coming referendum scheduled for the end of the year which will allow the residents to decide if the city should be ruled by the Kurdish Regional Government or by the central government in Baghdad.

Because Kurds suspected that Christians would vote to annex their city to the central government these atrocities were intended to drive them out of the city. aina.org reports that before the start of violence against Christians Kurdish soldier went door to door to demand Christians of Mosul to hand over their weapons. Ninty percent of the atrocities happened in the region controlled by the Kurdish forces who made no attempt to stop them.

The soldiers who went to Christians homes in Mosul to evacuate the residents before fire bombing their homes spoke broken Arabic which indicates that they were Kurds. The ration cards of the Christians who fled to the Plain of Nineveh were confiscated and the refugees were told they can get them back only if they intend to reside permanently at where they had fled to, presumably to discourage them from returning to Mosul. It is hard to believe that the US intelligence agency is unaware of such shenanigans, yet US has done nothing to stop the Kurds from such treachery. The Bush administration succeeded to topple Saddam's regime supposedly to bring democracy to that country but has only succeeded to replace one despot ruler with others equally prone to dictatorial policies.

As Kenneth Timmerman wrote:

"The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has taken the Assyrian Christians in Ainkawa and in the Nineveh Plains hostage in their efforts to win more territory in the coming votes on the status of Mosul and Kirkuk."
see: Assyrians: Assyrians: Martyrs in Iraq

In an interview with the Voice of America, In his usual hypocritical fashion Kurdish leader Talabani recently stated: that without the U.S.-led coalition, Iraq "would still be living in the yoke of the worst kind of dictatorship.." However Christians of Iraq have seen no sign of such democracy, in fact they have been persecuted far worst than what they experienced during the Saddam's rule.

The Coming Fight for Northern Iraq