MESOP : Report on Assyrians in Iraq Calls for Humanitarian, Military Aid
Assyrian refugees in Ankawa, Iraq.(AINA) — A report released yesterday by the Assyria Council of Europe paints a bleak picture for the Assyrians of Iraq. The report, titled Facing Annihilation: Innocent Assyrian victims of an unfolding Genocide, presents a short history of Assyrians in Iraq since that country gained its independence in 1932, then discusses the developments since June 10, 2014, when the Islamic State (ISIS) captured Mosul.The report also discusses the plight of Yazidis, Shabaks and Turkmen, who were also targeted by ISIS.
The report outlines the actions of ISIS in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, home to the largest concentration of Assyrians in Iraq. Among that actions taken by ISIS were:
- Imposing Sharia law in Mosul
- Imposing jizya on Assyrians
- Destroying Christian religious institutions
- Ordering women to completely veil themselves and not leave the home without a male escort
- Ordering unmarried women to report for “sexual Jihad”
- Killing Unveiled Christian women
- Killing Thousands of Shiites and Yazidis
- Cutting of water and electricity to the Nineveh Plain
- Confiscating homes of Assyrians
- Seizing the Chaldean Patriarchate
- Marking Christian homes to identify them
ISIS moved into the Nineveh Plain and captured several Assyrian towns, causing 200,000 Assyrians to flee north to Dohuk and east to Ankawa in Arbel.
According to the report:
The Assyrians in Iraq currently number between 300,000 and 450,000. In 2003 their population was estimated at 1-1.5 million, and they now constitute a third of Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries. This has come about as a result of Assyrian churches, businesses and homes throughout Iraq becoming the target of coordinated attacks. Kidnappings, as well as verbal and written threats to convert to Islam, pay jizyah (an extortion tax imposed upon non-Muslims), leave the country or else suffer death, have also been commonplace. In February 2008, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Mar Paulus Faraj Rahho, was abducted and killed. Other priests and religious figures have also been murdered or kidnapped. In total, more than 413 Christians were killed between 10 April 2003 and 23 March 2012, and 46 churches were attacked or bombed, leaving 95 dead.
Some of the recommendations of the report are:
- Designate as disaster areas the towns and districts of Sinjar, Bakhdida (Qaraqosh/Hamdaniyah), Bartillah, Ba’shiqah, Tel-Kayf, Alqosh, Shaykhan, Tal-A’far, Tuz, Amerli, Bashir and Taza
- Provide all means of support, including immediate shipments of food, water, tents and other emergency relief aid to agencies coping with the current humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
- Clear the areas from ISIS, restore security and stability, and return the displaced people to their homes safely.
- Designate the acts perpetrated by ISIS against Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabak and Turkmen in north Iraq as crimes against humanity, denounce them as genocide, and demand the prosecution of the perpetrators.
- Allow the formation, training and armament of new Iraqi military and police units manned and commanded by Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabak and Turkmen, to aid in the liberation of their areas from ISIS.
- Implement the agreement, made by Iraqi Parliament and Cabinet on January 21, 2014, to create new provinces not only in areas where the existence of minority groups is under threat, such as the Nineveh Plain, Tel-Afar, Tuz-Khurmatu, but also in Sinjar.
- Stop regarding the Assyrians (including Chaldeans and Syriacs) as a religious minority, and refrain from calling them Christians. They are the oldest inhabitants of Iraq and, as such, they should have the same rights enjoyed by the Arabs, Kurds and others in the country.
- Issue an international resolution for the establishment of one or more safe havens for people from Iraq’s embattled minority groups and, if need be, send in UN peacekeeping forces to protect them and ensure that refugees are restored to their homes safely.
Read the full report here. http://www.aina.org/reports/facann.pdf