Faith Under
Fire.......
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.