Lausanne World Pulse – Reaching Out to Iraq’s Displaced, Suffering Christians
By Jerry Dykstra
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From Baghdad to Northern Iraq: The following is an interview with Nazani, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) living in northern Iraq. The only furnishings in her lounge are a carpet and a small television. The kitchen contains a small table, four plastic chairs, a cooker, a small cabinet and a donated refrigerator. The bedroom contains two single beds and three mattresses. Q: Tell me how you came to live here. A: We were living in Baghdad and left because the situation was becoming very violent. Fighting, car bombings and suicide bombings were increasing and then they began kidnapping people and demanding huge ransoms. When children also began to be targeted, we became very afraid. Our children’s school was quite a distance from our home and we were always afraid because it was in an area where there were many bombings. Every day, all we could do was pray for their protection. On one occasion, a car bomb exploded in front of their school. We then decided it was time to leave. Q. When you left Baghdad, were you able A: No, we left everything behind. We tried to sell a few items, but time was short. It wasn’t possible to bring too much because if you are stopped at the checkpoints and the soldiers see you are moving, they may not let you come into the city without a special permit from the government. We had a large house in Baghdad but left with only the clothes we were wearing and what we could put into a few bags in the car. Q. As a wife and mother, how do you feel A: First of all, I am a wife and must follow my husband. As parents, we needed to put the safety and security of our children first. We needed to take care of them and that meant sacrifice. Of course I miss my family, friends and personal belongings, but I had to sacrifice those things for the sake of my children and husband. Q: Do you have food every day? A: Not always, so we take care with what we have. Sometimes, I make small meals to make sure there is leftovers for another day. Q: What do you hope for the future here? A: All I can hope for is good health for my husband and children. We were facing many problems and hardships in Baghdad, so coming here has been a good thing. We have somewhere to live and everything else is up to the Lord. I trust he will look after us. Q: Would you like to go back to Baghdad A. Yes. It is the place where I was born. I Q. How can Christians in other parts of A. The most important thing for us is our faith in God. It is very helpful knowing that others are praying for us to remain strong in our belief. |
Iraqi Christians are on the move, fleeing from the violence in their country. Many Christians are leaving because they have been threatened by Muslim extremists who want them permanently removed from the country.
Some Iraqi people are fleeing to northern Iraq. They are called Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Others are attempting to find refuge in Syria, Jordan or in the West. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently said that the number of IDPs now stands at 2.3 million. An additional sixty thousand people per month are now being displaced in Iraq; this averages to two thousand people per day!
A movement considered to be the “second wave” includes IDPs and refugees who were unable to move earlier, but now must move because of the violent situation. They have left everything behind and are living on their cash in hand. The influx of refugees to northern Iraq has increased unemployment and dramatically heightened the cost of living.
Christian IDPs and refugees need relief supplies, housing help and spiritual counseling. Open Doors USA supports them by providing food, housing, heating, clothes and medical care. In Syria and Jordan, Open Doors helps with similar relief for the neediest families among the refugees. Through helping the refugees, Open Doors has the opportunity to establish a relationship of trust, which could revive the faith of nominal Christians who are frustrated with religion because they feel their spiritual leaders did not care for them properly.
Background of IDPs in Iraq
While there has been a history of internal displacement of people within Iraq over the past forty years because of human rights abuses and internal and international conflict and war, the situation has worsened in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been displaced since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In 2003, 500,000 to 600,000 Christians lived in the country. Today, Iraq’s Christian population is estimated to have dropped below 450,000. With approximately two thousand people leaving daily, many of them Christians, the future of the Church in Iraq is bleak.
Due to the growing IDP problem, Open Doors, working through local partners, decided to assist Christian IDPs and help stem the hemorrhage of believers from some of the oldest Christian denominations in the world—namely, the Armenian, Assyrian and Chaldean churches.
Thousands of people are arriving in the northern region of Iraq known as Kurdistan. Since 1992, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has had a separate parliament, elected by popular vote, called the Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly. After 2003, Kurdish politicians have been represented in the Iraqi governing council. The autonomy of the KRG has resulted in this area of Iraq enjoying relative peace and a growing prosperity compared to the rest of the country. This has made the region a magnet for the many IDPs unable to leave the country.
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Jerry Dykstra is media relations coordinator at Open Doors USA. He travels to countries such as China, Vietnam and Mexico to meet with persecuted believers. |