Iraq: Preserving Christianity in Iraq 10 years after Daesh invasion

05/08/2024, Author: Amy Balog

A tent in a displacement camp for Christians in Ankawa, Kurdistan.

The only Chaldean Catholic priest in the UK has expressed his gratitude for the international community’s support for Iraq’s displaced Christians on the eve of the tenth anniversary of Daesh (ISIS) seizing the Nineveh Plains.

Father Andrawis Toma, head of the Chaldean Mission in the UK, said that the assistance provided by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is greatly appreciated – but the Iraqi government should also be “helping” and “protecting their own citizens”.

Father Toma told ACN that most Christian families have been torn apart, with many fleeing abroad in search of safety and financial stability because they feel forgotten by the country’s leaders.  

More than 120,000 Christians sought refuge in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region after Daesh conquered Qaraqosh and other ancient Christian settlements in the Nineveh Plains on 6th August 2014.

Around 9,000 Christian families have since returned to their homes – thanks to ACN and other international organisations – but tens of thousands of people remain in exile, living in extreme poverty.

Father Toma said that the future of Christianity in the country is uncertain, but at least “in Kurdistan, thanks God, we have a part of Iraq that is safe for the Christians who left Mosul and the Nineveh Plains” a decade ago.

He added that Iraq’s Christian’s community is constantly shrinking, and many of those who remain are also looking to emigrate because they have no means of supporting themselves.

Speaking with ACN earlier this year, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil stressed the importance of preserving the historic Christian presence in Iraq – dating back to the second century – in the face of the ongoing economic hardship, highlighting that young people “ask for jobs, not just to receive donations”.

He implored the international community not to forget Iraq’s suffering Christians “in the midst of so many crises around the world”.

He went on to express his gratitude for ACN’s support, including emergency aid and rebuilding razed villages.

Archbishop Warda highlighted the special role of the Catholic University of Erbil – Iraq’s only Catholic university, established in 2015 and supported by ACN – in nurturing Christian unity in the country.

He concluded: “We pray for you and for all our benefactors.”

“We pray that whatever you give, we multiply it in a way that will help serve the needs of the people.”