Thousands of Christians flee central Iraq after attacks
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Dec 17, 2010, 6:14:56 PM12/17/10
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Thousands of Christians flee central Iraq after attacks
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled their homes to semi-autonomous Kurdish areas and neighbouring countries since a church in Baghdad was attacked six weeks ago, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.
5:43PM GMT 17 Dec 2010
Some 1,000 Christian families, roughly 6,000 people, have arrived in the northern Kurdish areas from Baghdad, Mosul and Nineveh, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Several thousand have crossed into Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Many spoke of receiving threats or leaving out of fear. Fifty-two hostages and police were killed when Iraqi forces tried to free more than 100 Christians taken hostage during Sunday services on Oct. 31.
"Since the awful Baghdad church attack and subsequent targeted attacks, the Christian communities in Baghdad and Mosul have started a slow but steady exodus," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing.
She said that thousands of people had fled to neighbouring countries but that only several hundred had so far registered as refugees. Churches and aid groups have told the UNHCR to expect more to flee in coming weeks, she said.
Iraq's Christians once numbered 1.5 million out of a total Iraqi population of about 30 million and there are now estimated to be about 850,000, or about 3 per cent of the population.
They have frequently been targeted by militants, with churches bombed and pastors assassinated.
A dozen suspected al Qaeda members have been arrested in connection with the bloodiest attack on Iraq's Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), al Qaeda's local affiliate, has claimed responsibility for targeting the church.
Thousands of Christians flee central Iraq after attacks
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled their homes to semi-autonomous Kurdish areas and neighbouring countries since a church in Baghdad was attacked six weeks ago, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.
5:43PM GMT 17 Dec 2010
Some 1,000 Christian families, roughly 6,000 people, have arrived in the northern Kurdish areas from Baghdad, Mosul and Nineveh, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Several thousand have crossed into Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Many spoke of receiving threats or leaving out of fear. Fifty-two hostages and police were killed when Iraqi forces tried to free more than 100 Christians taken hostage during Sunday services on Oct. 31.
"Since the awful Baghdad church attack and subsequent targeted attacks, the Christian communities in Baghdad and Mosul have started a slow but steady exodus," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing.
She said that thousands of people had fled to neighbouring countries but that only several hundred had so far registered as refugees. Churches and aid groups have told the UNHCR to expect more to flee in coming weeks, she said.
Iraq's Christians once numbered 1.5 million out of a total Iraqi population of about 30 million and there are now estimated to be about 850,000, or about 3 per cent of the population.
They have frequently been targeted by militants, with churches bombed and pastors assassinated.
A dozen suspected al Qaeda members have been arrested in connection with the bloodiest attack on Iraq's Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), al Qaeda's local affiliate, has claimed responsibility for targeting the church.
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