Communities to be protected

“I can’t say Iraq is a stable country, but, compared with one and a half years ago, we have seen significant progress”. It was said by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, in Brussels, during a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the European Parliament and the EP delegation for relations with Iraq, the first step in his visit to the European institutions and Nato. The presence of the Iraqi Premier coincides with the growing attention of the European institutions, as of individual countries, in events taking place in Iraq, with particular concern for the situation of refugees and displaced people in the north, almost 4 million, and the persecutions to which the Christian communities, the most ancient in Iraq, have long been subjected by Islamic fundamentalists. Churches and places of worship are being destroyed, believers kidnapped, priests and bishops summarily executed. Defeating terrorism. Maliki dealt with several points, lingering in particular on the provincial ballot next October: “the militias – he said – will not interfere. The rejection of their presence has been accepted by all parties. Even the refugees will be put in a position to cast their votes, which will be free and fair, and the technical measures required are being prepared”. As to the retreat of the coalition troops from Iraq, the Prime Minister said he is confident that “a sudden retreat from the country would result in confusion within it”, so this “should be prepared and agreed ahead of time”. “Iraq – he then repeated – is not a field in which regional interests are developed. I asked the neighbouring countries to stop being a training ground for terrorists”. Finally, as to Al Qaeda, Al Maliki was curt: “we have never been so confident that we may defeat it. We want to defeat terrorism”.Christians persecuted. “The European Union must take action to solve the dramatic situation of the Christian refugees in Iraq. This tragedy that already affects 37.5% of Iraqi Christians risks taking on more and more worrying proportions”. These are the words of Mario Mauro, deputy president of the European Parliament, as he commented the humanitarian emergency that is affecting so many Christian Iraqis, forced to escape death, violence and persecutions. Large numbers are seeking refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan (in the north). “Many Catholic bishops of the Chaldeian rite have invoked on several occasions the help of the international community – continues Mauro -. So, the European Union must not hesitate to take action about this emergency, but on the contrary it must give shelter and asylum to the Iraqi refugees, in particular the Christian ones”.A home for Christians. Mauro’s appeal was also endorsed by German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schaeuble, who today, 18 April, during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs being held in Luxembourg, will ask his European colleagues to give shelter to more Iraqi refugees, especially Christian ones. It was revealed by Schaeuble himself in an article on the latest issue of the German weekly Bild am Sonntag. “The region is on the verge of collapse – states the politician -. Despite this, thousands are still fleeing from death, violence and persecution. They include many Christians. At the next meeting of the Council of Ministers, we will try to discuss how Germany and Europe can help the Iraqi refugees, especially Christian ones. We must help them by offering them a home in Europe until they can go back to their country”. The press estimates that Germany might receive about 30 thousand Iraqi Christians.Dutch visit of solidarity. “Iraqi Christians have been uprooted from their land, and the international community must protect them”. These are the conclusions reached by a delegation of Dutch politicians and journalists that from March 28th to April 5th visited Northern Iraq to meet over one hundred refugees, Assyrian leaders, NGOs working in the area as well as members of the UN Refugees Office and the Red Cross. As reported by the Assyrian agency Aina, which relayed the news, the Dutch MP, Joel Voordewind, stated that, “in this area of the north of the country, Christians are comparatively safe, but they live as outcasts, for instance they cannot work for any governmental body unless they are members of the Kurdish party, the Kdp, or unless they own land confiscated by the Kurds”. In the rest of the country, Islamists keep attacking the families. It has been estimated that approximately 95% of the refugees have lost at least one family member due to Islamic terrorists. The Dutch MP hopes “the international community will do more for the Christian communities, so that they will no longer been forced to leave their country”.