Home / Uncategorized / THE SITUATION OF IRAQI CHRISTIANS AND OTHER MINORITIES IN IRAQ NEEDS WORLD ATTENTION AND HELP

THE SITUATION OF IRAQI CHRISTIANS AND OTHER MINORITIES IN IRAQ NEEDS WORLD ATTENTION AND HELP

 

January 6, 2007

We are the Iraqi Human Rights Society – U.S.A., based in Michigan. Since 1999, our non-profit and non-partisan organization, run by volunteers, has branched out to the states of Virginia, New York, Illinois, and California. The society’s goal is to defend the Iraqi citizen and convey the injustice of the people. By condemning, and restraining the adverse actions taken out on the people, our society assists in freeing and housing many Iraqis via various refugee camps, ambassadors, and United Nation offices. Our society exposes all current affairs of Iraq in a yearly in-depth analysis available to any of our contacts. With consistent meetings on current affairs and the development of our culture, we challenge our people to grow alongside the future of Iraq through humanitarianism, awareness, and education. We have hope and faith that a Democratic Iraq with a fair and just Constitution will bring a life of freedom to each person in Iraq

Our society monitors all violations and discriminations in Iraq that the Iraqi citizen might undergo. Since the liberation of Iraq from Saddam’s regime, the minorities, including Christians, Mandaeans and Yezidis are subjected to all kinds of violations, attacks, intimidation and harassments by the Shia militias and extreme Islamists.

Places of worship have been exposed to attacks and bombings. Clergy have also been targeted, few Christian priests were kidnapped and released, and two were kidnapped and killed in 2006.

Christians and other minorities have been also targeted at workplace. Many have lost their jobs or have been harassed. Non-muslim women who are not veiled are severely harassed, and threatened. These practices have forced more than twenty thousand Christian families to flee Iraq to neighboring Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt seeking safe haven.

There is some information that the militias have advice people not to purchase homes owned by Christians for the purpose of taking over the possession of their properties when they move out of Iraq.

A statement of Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom before the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations on December 21, 2006, points out “[Christians and other minorities] Their situation is unique: Their religion and culture identifies them with the “infidel occupiers” in the minds of the extremists, and lacking the militias, tribal structures and foreign champions of Iraq’s other groups, they are singularly defenseless against the mayhem that has followed the occupation. Because they do not govern any department, they are at the tender mercies of those dominant groups who aim to take their property, businesses and villages. The United States has a great moral responsibility to address their plight, and specific policy actions are required to help them. These policies will differ from the efforts we once took on behalf of Soviet Jews. Most of these small minority people do not wish to leave Iraq. We must expeditiously take actions that will maximize their security within Iraq, and will draw back some of those who have taken temporary shelter in other surrounding countries. For the most desperate among them, we must begin to resettle them here, where many, if not most, already have relatives who are well established. “

Iraqi Christians who reside in other countries have a great fear of going to Iraq to visit family members and relative for fear of abduction, revenge, harassment and accusations of being agents for West.

We call up upon UN high commission for refugees, All countries of the world that grant asylum and all human rights organizations to urgently consider offering refuge to Iraqi religious and ethnic minorities, those who have fled Iraq and awaiting a safe haven since their return to Iraq constitutes grave danger to them.

We urge the countries, with Iraqi Christians and other minorities that have left Iraq for fear of harassment and avoiding danger, to facilitate their refuge and offer whatever is possible, considering their unique circumstances and the hardships they are going through.

IRAQI HUMAN RIGHTS SOCIETY.U.S.A

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