February 2017 Persecution Magazine (2 of 4)

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ICC Exclusive An Uncertain Future for Iraq’s Christians As ISIS is pushed back by coalition forces, many Christians are left looking towards a complex and uncertain future. By William Stark I was living with my husband and two sons when ISIS attacked Qeraqosh. We were lucky as we had sent our daughter out of the village a week earlier to be with her aunt.” Sana’a was speaking of that fateful day in 2014 when ISIS militants began their assault on Christian towns and villages across the Nineveh Plain, the homeland of Iraq’s Christians, to establish their caliphate in northern Iraq. “Our house was far from the center of the city,” Sana’a explained. “That’s why we didn’t know that ISIS occupied our city and why we didn’t try to flee right away. After three days, we realized that ISIS occupied our town. We tried to hide in our house, but three armed men broke the lock on the gate and then knocked down the door when we didn’t reply to their knocking. That was when the most terrible period of my life started.” Immediately, the armed men took the “ Christian family to a local mosque where other Christian families were also gathered. The Christian men and women were then separated by the armed men they soon discovered were ISIS militants. “They told us that they would be releasing the elderly women,” Sana’a continued. “When they started separating us, I realized that this was the last time that I would see my husband and two sons. I wish that they would have left my youngest son with me at least. But they didn’t. When they forced [the elderly women] to leave the mosque, my youngest son waved his hand at me, telling me not to leave. I can’t forget my son waving his hand. I didn’t have [a] choice.” Over 200,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes, becoming either internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kurdistan or refugees abroad. Since ISIS captured international headlines over two years ago, many have questioned what the future holds for Iraq’s Christians. Often, this gets broken down into a simple dichotomy. Will the violence unleashed by ISIS cause Iraqi Christians to fade into the pages of history or will Iraqi Christians, now more visible on an international level, rebuild the towns and villages devastated by ISIS? Unfortunately, both the questions and the answers surrounding the uncertain future of Iraq’s Christians are likely more complex. Despite its complexity, the future of Christianity in Iraq is one of the most important issues that must be answered for the Church today. Life as an IDP Truly, no one will be able to detail the full suffering endured by Christians during the initial stages of the crisis. Many were faced with life or death decisions, like Sana’a and her family, and were forced into IDP camps spread across northern Iraq. Those who were displaced were totally 2 PERSECU ION.org FEBRUARY 2017 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced by ISIS; many Christian communities were afraid to move into IDP camps because of safety concerns, so they chose to live in tents on church properties or move into half-finished construction sites as seen above. dependent on aid from both the international community and local churches. The numbers of internal refugees were massive and little attention could be given beyond meeting their needs beyond basic survival. “After more than two years of displacement, we have noticed a difference in Christians’ situation,” Rabea Soran, an IDP camp manager in Erbil, told ICC. “Still, the situation doesn’t meet the minimum requirement of a suitable life.” “I can remember how Christians lived here PERSECU ION.org INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN and there and everywhere in parks for several months,” Soran recalled. “Some of them were able to move to caravans, others to unfinished buildings during the first year.” Despite sheltering in Erbil for two years, many Christians still struggled to meet basic needs. “Christians couldn’t find good jobs in Kurdistan to support their families because the government was already overloaded because of the war,” Soran explained. “Also, the official language here is Kurdish and no one speaks it, so it’s hard for Christian IDPs to communicate.” “Most Christian IDPs are completely dependent on the aid they get from churches and non-profits,” Soran continued. While that’s painful, their most haunting question is when and how they can get back to their homes and what life will be like after ISIS. A Fighter’s Perspective As many Christian IDPs look with uncertainty towards the future, there are some among them who are taking action in order to secure 3
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February 2017 Persecution Magazine (2 of 4)

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