Plight of Iraqi Christian refugees still desperate, conference participants say

AMMAN — Three years after being forced to leave Mosul, the pain of Iraqi Christians is still raw, participants at a conference said on Thursday.

The conference, titled “Iraqi Refugees in Jordan: Challenges and Perspectives”, discussed the urgent need for coordination between relevant organisations to provide better assistance to refugees.

Thousands of Iraqi Christians were forced from their homes in 2014 to escape the advance of Daesh, while those Christians who remained risked death. 

Those who were unable to leave were given three choices: convert to Islam, pay a tribute tax or be killed. 

During the opening session, Monsignor Luigi Roberto Cona, speaking on behalf of the Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan and Iraq Monsignor Alberto Ortega, said that the number of Iraqis fleeing their country has been on the rise since 2014, with many not receiving “any kind of help”.

He said the conference was an opportunity “to study together the possibilities of how to respond to the challenges the Iraqis are facing, in order to assure them a life worthy of living”.

Among the many challenges Iraqi Christian refugees face in Jordan are the high cost of living without incomes, children’s absence from education for years at a time and psychological trauma, according to a Caritas presentation. 

Wael Suleiman, Caritas director in Jordan, said the current times require all institutions to work together in a spirit of coordination, cooperation and interaction to effect positive change for those who are suffering. 

He told The Jordan Times on the sideline of the event that the Kingdom has done a “remarkable” job helping refugees, adding that there are more than 12,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan. 

“Over these three years, Caritas and other humanitarian organisations, as well as the ministries of education and social development, have combined efforts to assist them. Today’s meeting is intended to organise the further expansion and enhancement of such cooperation,” Suleiman added. 

UNHCR Assistant Representative for Protection Daniela Cicchella gave her assessment of the situation for Iraqi refugees in Jordan, recommending the further expansion of the number of organisations providing aid to refugees.

 “We [UNHCR] are trying to take care of and provide protection for the refugees, with the coordination of the authorities, Caritas and many other partners,” she told The Jordan Times.

“We try to make sure that all refugees are treated equally, taking into consideration the difficult situation and struggle of all parties: the refugees, the host country and the partners,” Cicchella added.

Baraa Basim, an Iraqi Christian doctor, also spoke of his experiences of suffering, not only at the hands of Daesh when they captured Mosul, but also as a refugee — without work, lacking medical care and struggling to survive. 

He described how he and his wife, like many other Christians in Iraq, faced abduction, attack and sexual abuse at the hands of extremists and were forced to leave their homeland.