More and more Iraqi children are being abandoned

Nine-year old Faleh Muhammed awoke one April day last year to find that his family had deserted him, leaving him alone with three other families in the abandoned building in Baghdad that they had shared. The other parents did not have the money to take care of Faleh so he had to start begging on the streets. One day he had a serious headache and fainted. He was brought to Yarmouk hospital by passers-by and eventually diagnosed with leukemia. Felah’s story is described in a November 21 IRIN article.

“I remember my father saying I was useless because I was rotten from the inside and I never understood why, but now I know that the reason for abandoning me was my disease,” Faleh said, adding that his father was poor and could not afford the treatment.

Today, Faleh is receiving treatment and being looked after by the local NGO Keeping Children Alive (KCA), which estimates that 700 children in Baghdad have been abandoned by their families since January 2006. However, KCA does not have the resource capacity to help Faleh and other children in his situation obtain the proper treatment that they need.

“The problem is even more serious among new-born babies and there are many cases of children aged 1-12 abandoned,” said Mayada Marouf, a spokesperson for KCA. “Most of them have a life-threatening disease and their families cannot afford treatment.”

“Abandoned children carry long-term psychological effects. There is a strong possibility that they could change their behavior after feeling ostracized,” Dr Ibrahim Abdel-Rahman, a psychiatrist at the Iraqi Aid Association (IAA), another NGO, said.

Today, over 1.6 million children under the age of 12 have become homeless in Iraq, according to the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. That number comprises nearly 70 percent of the estimated 2.5 million Iraqis who are homeless inside the country.

“There are no reliable estimates of how many orphans and abandoned children are in Iraq today but we believe, according to some data collected by local NGOs, that over 8,000 children are in the same or a similar situation to that of Faleh,” Mayada said.

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Iraqi NGOs allege torture, abuse of children in prisons

Concerns have been raised by Iraqi NGOs about the treatment of children in prisons. The organizations say that they are abused and tortured during interrogation, IRIN reported last week.

“Children are being treated as adults in Iraqi prisons and our investigations have shown that they are being abused and tortured,” said Khalid Rabia’a, a spokesman for the Prisoners’ Association for Justice (PAJ).

According to Rabia’a, PAJ’s investigation began after families brought their children, who were recently released from prison, to the organization for psychological help.

“The five children showed signs of torture all over their bodies. Three had marks of cigarettes burns over their legs and one couldn’t speak as the shock sessions affected his conversation,” Rabia’a said. “It is against international law that protects children and we call for interventions in all Iraqi prisons to save the lives of these children.”

The Ministry of Interior denied the accusations, and said that children and youth are only held in interrogation for a maximum of 48 hours and are not abused or tortured. However, one senior ministry official from the ministry, who has been supplying PAJ with updates on a daily basis but asked not be named, told IRIN that every prison is holding at least 20 children, all of them suffering abuse.

It is believed that at least 220 children are currently detained in Iraqi prisons. IRIN’s request to visit the prisons was denied.

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Iraq: Turkish invasion could have devastating regional consequences

The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, commented about continued pressure from Turkey in a recent interview with the BBC. An invasion would have serious consequences for stability in both countries and for the region as a whole, Zebari said, according to The Sidney Morning Herald.

Zebari said that the present crisis was “dead serious” and that Turkey had shown no interest in Iraqi proposals to calm the situation.

According to the article “Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops, backed by warplanes and tanks, on the border between the two countries for a possible offensive against an estimated 3,000 Iraq-based rebels.”

There are fears that the Turkish military build-up will be used to carry out a larger incursion into northern Iraq than anticipated, Zebari said. He added that, according to the article, such a step would have disastrous consequences for stability in both countries.

Turkey’s demand for Iraq to hand over senior members of the outlawed PKK sheltering in Iraq was deemed impossible to fulfill by Zebari.

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Brookings Institution hosts discussion with Iraqi Deputy P.M.

The Brooking Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Post Policy hosted a conversation with Barham Salih, the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, for a full audience Monday.

The Prime Minister began with a brief overview of the economic, political and social components of the Iraq conflict. He was quick to emphasize that the country is in a state of “deep transition,” with a struggle underway over power and resources. For this reason he cautioned against the tendency of Western nations to demand instant results and progress.

In terms of security, Salih believes the dynamics have changed for the better, citing the many communities in provinces like violence-plagued Anbar that are staunchly opposed to al-Qaeda, along with the enhanced capabilities of Iraqi security forces.

Shifting to economic gains, Salih said that the rate of budget execution has increased two-fold and that a once-exorbitant inflation rate has been reduced to a manageable level. Unemployment rates have also fallen by 19 percent, he said.

Salih also highlighted the increase in construction, thanks to budgets being allocated directly to the provinces based on population. In his view, provincial leaders are not as susceptible to corruption, security concerns and bureaucratic measures of the central government, and are therefore better able to expedite projects.

Salih regrets that such gains are not matched in the political arena. “We must do the politics right,” he proclaimed. He also warned that all other gains could be squandered and potentially reversed if the country’s political will is not sustained. And although Iraqis are growing weary of the violence, he remains convinced that an inclusive, non-centralized political framework will sustain security.

The question and answer session was dominated by discussion of diplomatic relations with Turkey, given the growing PKK issue.

While the Prime Minister, speaking on behalf of the government, condemned the violent actions of separatist groups on both sides, he was quick to comment that Iraq cannot be expected to dedicate all of its energy to remedy this single conflict.

Salih concluded by emphasizing the slow, but steady, progress of the “bottom-up” approach to governance, with all communities as legitimate stakeholders in the new political process. The Prime Minister believes that success in Iraq, while difficult, is indeed possible.

Marsh Arabs look to revive way of life in post-Saddam Iraq

For an article in the October 2006 edition of Smithsonian magazine, Joshua Hammer, traveled with a unit of British soldiers to southern Iraq, to the area between the cities of An Nasiriyah and Basra, to document efforts to help the region’s “Marsh Arabs.”

With helicopter carrying Hammer now touched down in a muddy field, he writes: “A few moments later, two dozen Iraqi men and boys from a nearby village, all dressed in dishdashas – gray traditional robes – crowd around us. The first words out of their mouths are requests for mai, water. As Kelly Goodall, the British Army’s interpreter, hands out bottles of water, a young man shows me a rash on his neck and asks if I have anything for it. ‘It comes from drinking the water in the marshes,’ he tells me. ‘It isn't clean.’”

The villagers tell Hammer that 1991 was the last time there had been a helicopter in the area. As the article notes: “That was when Saddam sent his gunships into the wetlands to hunt down Shiite rebels and to strafe and bomb the Marsh Arabs who had supported them.” They continue to tell their story. “We came back from An Nasiriyah and Basra after the fall of Saddam, because people said it was better to go back to the marshes,” the village chief, Khathem Hashim Habib said.

Still, several years after village reconstruction, roads are unpaved, and there is no electricity, no schools and no medicine. Getting to the nearest market takes an hour by truck, and this is only possible in the absence of floodwaters.

There has been little help from the government, Habib says. “The officials in Basra and Nasiriyah know that we’re here, but help isn't coming,” he told a British officer.

For the full article, click here.

More border families flee as tensions mount between Iraq, Turkey

Hundreds have already fled their homes along the Iraq-Turkey border as tensions mount between Turkish-Kurdish rebels and the Turkish army. The exodus is now escalating in the wake of Sunday’s cross-border ambush, IRIN, a U.N. humanitarian news service, reported Tuesday.

Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Sunday killed at least 17 Turkish soldiers in a cross-border ambush, placing added pressure on Ankara to initiate military action in Iraq.

“It will be a disaster. Families living near the border are usually [poor] and are being forced to flee their homes, carrying a single bag and leaving behind a history and the comfort of a family to an unknown destiny,” Kalif Dirar, a senior official in the Kurdistan regional government, said.

Dirar said that families are scared since the killing of the Turkish soldiers, and the kidnapping of eight others by the Kurdish rebels, caused more panic among the locals. They now fear a response by the Turkish military, he said.

“We have recorded more than 3,000 individuals traveling from villages near the border to areas near Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk,” Dirar said.

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Despite 4,200 confirmed cases, Iraq, UN say cholera outbreak under control

Since August there have been about 4,200 laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera and 21 deaths form the disease. Still, United Nation agencies and the Iraqi government say that the outbreak is under control, IRIN, a U.N. humanitarian news service, reported Tuesday.

“Iraqis have adhered to the rules to guarantee their safety against cholera and numbers have dropped dramatically; in addition, more than 70 percent of reported cases are being treated with success,” said Taha Abdallah, a senior official at the Ministry of Health.

“There are some areas where sanitation is poor and there is a deficit of potable water, leaving residents in a more dangerous situation, but we are working hard to contain the problem. And with the end of the summer season, the possible spread of the disease is lower,” Abdallah added. “An intense campaign was developed among displaced families to prevent the spread of the disease among the most vulnerable.”

According to the article: “The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) are urgently calling on all Iraqis to follow the preventive measures, which are simple and affordable and have proved to be effective in warding off the risk of a cholera outbreak. So far 39 districts in 11 provinces have been affected, according to the Ministry of Health.”

Even though number of cholera cases has declined, the article says that “both UNICEF and the WHO have continued their support for local health units by providing technical support, training on case management, outbreak investigation and containment. The two UN agencies have also been supporting awareness and hygiene promotion campaigns in the country.”

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Iraq ‘not comfortable’ after Turkey OKs military incursion

After Turkey’s parliament on Wednesday gave its military the green light to hunt members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari expressed concern over the prospect of an incursion, Reuters reported Thursday.

“If something happens it is possibly going to be air strikes on some suspected PKK positions,” Zebari said on Thursday. “But to talk about a major military offensive and major cross-border incursion, that I do not expect.”

The article says that Washington and other allies caution that an incursion into northern Iraq “would bring chaos to the region, threaten oil supplies and harm U.S. attempts to quell relentless violence in the country.”

Zebari added: “Our formal request is that they leave Iraqi soil and leave Iraq for its people and do not bring us more problems than we’re already suffering.” He also said that the PKK should leave “as soon as possible.”

This was the first public call made by Zebari, who is a Kurd, for the PKK to leave Iraq.

“(Turkey has) a problem, we are ready to discuss it, talk about it and fulfill our commitments,” Zebari said. “But the starting point should be sitting at the dialogue table to agree on mechanisms.”

Thousands of people in several northern Iraqi towns took the streets Thursday to protest against the Turkish vote, carrying banners with slogans and calling for peaceful dialogue with their northern neighbor to end the crisis.

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Iraq’s Yazidi sect shrinking rapidly

As Iraq celebrated the Id al-Fitr holiday, which ends the holy month of Ramadan, the Yazidi minority celebrated the Jema feast, a similar holiday, at a near empty shrine, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The sect has suffered great losses in Iraq this year. A suicide bomb in August killed around 500. Before that, there had been reports of assassinations and kidnappings. Both Arab and Kurdish Muslims have put pressure on the sect to convert to Islam.

“At least 70,000 Yazidis have fled the country,” the article says, citing Khairi Shankaly, the director of Yazidi affairs for the Kurdistan Regional Government. That figure constitutes nearly 15 percent of the some 500,000 Yazidis in Iraq.

“The Yazidi faith is rooted in religions that predate Christianity, and its beliefs are an amalgam of Christianity and Islam. Yazidis believe in God the creator and also revere the prophets that figure in Islam and Christianity. But the central figure of worship is an archangel who is often represented as a peacock,” the article explains.

For full article click here.

Turkey planning operation in Iraq’s Kurdish region

The gray smoke was visible from Iraqi Kurdish hillsides Tuesday, the result, local farmers said, of artillery shells that hit close to the border with Turkey, the Associated Press reported.

“Although Ankara has not confirmed any shelling of Iraqi territory, the Turkish military has said it was carrying out an operation to track down Kurdish rebels after a deadly attack that killed 13 Turkish soldiers Sunday in a clash in the country’s southeast Turkish province of Sirnak,” the article says.

Ali al-Dabagh, the Iraqi government spokesman said that the violence in Sirnak and the killings of the Turkish soldiers was of “great concern” to Iraq. According to the article: “He extended condolences to the victims’ families and solidarity with the Turkish people, but stressed that regional cooperation is key to confronting all terrorist groups.”

A September counterterrorism agreement signed by Iraq and Turkey prohibits Turkey from sending troops to Iraq’s north. Preserving that agreement, al-Dabagh said, is the way to maintain the security and sovereignty of both countries.

According to article, Ankara announced late Tuesday after a meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top Turkish officials that instructions have been given to prepare for a possible cross-border military operation into Iraq to chase separatist Kurdish rebels – who are part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

According to the article: “The U.S. is opposed to a military move by Turkey. The U.S., along with the European Union, has branded the PKK a terrorist organization. Its members have fought Turkish government forces since 1984, seeking autonomy for Turkey’s ethnic Kurds. The fighting has claimed tens of thousands of lives.”

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Senate endorses a federal system in Iraq

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed the decentralization of Iraq into semi-autonomous regions, The Los Angeles Times reported today.

Sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the nonbinding measure, which supports a “federal system” that would divide Iraq into sectarian-dominated regions, won “unusually broad bipartisan support, passing 75 to 23,” according to the article.

“It attracted 26 Republicans, 47 Democrats and both independents,” The Times says.

Biden outlined his proposal a year and a half ago, but it was, according to the article, “dismissed by the Bush administration and many on Capitol Hill as an unworkable and irresponsible prescription for breaking apart Iraq.” However, “as the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has stumbled in its efforts to unify the country’s warring religious and ethnic communities, the idea of a decentralized country divided among Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites has taken on new currency.”

The White House reaction was terse, stating that a change in policy was to be made by Iraqis. “The amendment recognizes that Iraqis will be the ones that make decisions about their political future,” National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement. “It also reiterates the importance of bottom-up reconciliation.”

“It is possible that the present structure in Baghdad is incapable of national reconciliation because its elected constituents were elected on a sectarian basis,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), one of the measure’s cosponsors. “A wiser course would be to concentrate on the three principal regions.”

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Combating growing problem of self-immolation in Iraqi Kurdistan

In recent weeks, the issue of increasing numbers of female burn victims in northern Iraq has been covered more extensively in the media. According to the latest report, from McClatchy Newspapers, while many of the surviving women and girls tell stories about how they got injured while working at home, according to the doctors and nurses this is not the case, as 80 percent of the burn cases in the northern cities of Irbil and Sulaimaniyah are actually suicide attempts.

According to the article: “Suicide by fire among girls and young women in the region has been increasing sharply since 2004,” adding later: “Some of the victims are as young as 12, but most range from age 15 to 25.”

“Some experts blame an economic boom that’s lured traditional villagers into cities with more modern values, resulting in family strains,” the article says. “But because the victims include lifelong city residents as well, a patriarchal culture that gives little power to women may be a bigger factor.”

Suicide by self-immolation is an extremely painful way to die and surviving girls and women sometimes have to face a terrible situation after they are released from the hospital, as, according to the article “their husbands and friends desert them and parents hide them from the rest of the family and visitors out of shame.”

The article also highlights the opinions of Amin Monsour, the director of the Women’s Union of Kurdistan, the largest women’s advocacy group in the region. Monsour calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government to “build counseling centers to teach men and women the basics of relationships.” She also calls for the establishment of hospitals with post-discharge centers that have psychologists and counselors to help with coping, community reintegration and job-seeking.

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Iraqi refugee women and children in desperate need of healthcare

Iraqi refugees, particularly women and children in Jordan, Syria and Egypt, are in desperate need of health care, according to ReliefWeb.

According to the article, The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children on Tuesday “called on the United States and the international community to respond quickly and fully to the United Nations interagency appeal for $85 million dollars to provide desperately need health care for Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Syria and Egypt.

These refugees have almost no access to basic services and the Women’s Commission reports that on their recent trip to Jordan, there we only two clinics to provide free or subsidized medical care to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

“Iraqi women and children have suffered terrible trauma and violence – we have a responsibility to care for their health. The international community must act now to alleviate this situation,” said Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director.

There is a special need for a greater emphasis on women and girl’s health since many have been targets of sexual violence, including rape. Also, according to the article, “the stresses and pressures of refugee life are also causing a rise in domestic violence. And because refugees cannot legally work in Jordan, women and girls remain vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse.”

The Commission calls for the development of “a more comprehensive assistance strategy for Iraqi refugees that will reflect the magnitude of the refugee crisis,” and add that: “This should include significantly increased humanitarian assistance for refugees, greater support for refugee receiving countries, and robust resettlement programs for highly vulnerable Iraqis.”

For the full article, click here.

Internal migration continues to alter demography and standard of living in Iraq

The Iraqi Red Crescent Organization expects to release a migration report this week in light of the vast internal migration that is reshaping the ethnic landscape of the country. Information given in advance to the New York Times indicates that “there are now nearly 170,000 families, accounting for almost a million people, that have fled their homes in search of security, shelter, water, electricity, functioning schools or jobs to support their families only in Baghdad.”

According to the article “the figures show that many families move twice, three times or more, first fleeing immediate danger and then making more considered calculations based on the availability of city services or schools for their children. Finding neighbors of their own sect is just one of those considerations”.

“Although Iraqis of every income level, sect, ethnicity and region of the country have been caught up in this migration, perhaps the most tragic consequences turn up where enormous numbers of poor Iraqi villagers have collected in camps, shantytowns and urban slums after leaving behind almost everything they owned”, Dr. Said Hakki, a physician who is the president of the Red Crescent told the New York Times.

Aid workers are both alarmed and concerned about the growing migration problem. The report states that these relief workers “have a mammoth task to alleviate the sufferings of this vast number of Iraqis.”

According to the article: “Although Iraqis of every income level, sect, ethnicity and region of the country have been caught up in this migration, perhaps the most tragic consequences turn up where enormous numbers of poor Iraqi villagers have collected in camps, shantytowns and urban slums after leaving behind almost everything they owned, said Dr. Said Hakki, president of the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization.

However, the statistics contained in the report have been challenged by the Ministry of Displacement and Migration who claims the politically delicate figures are too high.

It should also be noted that violence and insecurity are not the only factors spurring migration in the country. The article states: “In Baghdad, many of the displacements measured by the Red Crescent are secondary or tertiary. Many people have already moved once and the statistics are reflecting their second or, in some cases, their third move. While the fear of sectarian violence or of being caught in ongoing military operations motivates people to make their initial move, it is the desire for better living conditions that drives them to make subsequent ones. Some people first go to relatives in areas outside Baghdad, but then migrate back into the city as they search for jobs, and for more access to electricity, water and schools.”

For the full article, click here

Internally displaced Iraqis running out of options

Najaf’s al-Manathera camp for internally displaced persons has closed to new arrivals, IRIN reported today. Hundreds of fleeing Iraqis were turned away because the camp is already full.

“It is hard for us to see people getting full assistance inside the camps while we are outside hungry, tired and dirty,” said Um Abir, a displaced mother with four children. “Someone should look after us before we get shot, or die in this terrible hot weather, because we don’t have anywhere to shelter and have to cover our heads with newspaper,” she added.

Authorities running the camp say that they do not have the resources to help any more families and permitting more to enter would just siphon off the resources currently going to the families already residing in the camp. Additionally, they contend that allowing more people into the camp, especially with deteriorating sanitation and health care, would likely increase the rate of disease. A new security fence is being built to ensure that no additional families can enter.

The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration said that it is looking to establish new camps to help ease the burden on the displaced population. However, securing land for the camps is proving difficult, and officials have been unsuccessful in persuading land owners to allow camps to be set up on their property.

For the full article, click here

One third of Iraqis in desperate need of emergency aid

According to a report released today by Oxfam International and NCCI, a network of aid organizations in Iraq, nearly a third of Iraqi citizens are in need of emergency assistance. Other staggering statistics include the fact that 15 percent of Iraqis cannot afford adequate food, 70 percent lack water supplies, 28 percent of children are malnourished, and 92 percent of children suffer from learning problems – often due to trauma.

“The terrible violence in Iraq has masked the ongoing humanitarian crisis…Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee the violence, either to another part of Iraq or abroad. Many of those are living in dire poverty,” said Oxfam International Director Jeremy Hobbs.

One of the best solutions to this crisis, the report suggested, is to provide as much support to the local institutions and non-governmental organizations in Iraq as possible. Many international aid groups have been forced to leave due to a lack of security, but the local groups remain, and are the best chance for assisting the populations most in need.

An Oxfam survey done in April 2007 found that more than 80 percent of Iraqi aid agencies felt they could help those in need and extend their humanitarian work if they had more funding. Unfortunately, many of these organizations will not accept money from governments with troops in Iraq for security purposes. Consequently, it is crucial that international donors that do not have troops in Iraq provide as much support as possible, the release suggests.

For the full article, click here.

For the full Oxfam International report, “Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq,” click here.

The life of an Iraqi fixer

In an article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Ayub Nuri tells his story of life as an Iraqi “fixer.” A fixer in a war zone, according to Nuri, “is a journalist’s interpreter, guide, source finder and occasional lifesaver.” Fixers are the eyes and ears of the media and are often the only ones that can venture out into the streets, collect information, or function at all without being detected by opposition. Without the fixers, much of the coverage in Iraq would not even be possible.

Nuri’s story begins when he was a small boy growing up in the city of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. Attacks authorized by Saddam Hussein left over 5,000 Halabja residents dead, and left Nuri without part of his right knee. Years of war forced him to become a refugee in Turkey, but he returned to Iraq in 2003 when he got word that the U.S. was set to invade to oust Hussein. Upon his arrival, he was hired as a fixer because of his knowledge of English, which he acquired during his training as a teacher.

During his time as a fixer for various journalists, Nuri learned how to conduct interviews, record radio broadcasts and write newspaper stories. Time passed, and the situation in Iraq went from bad to worse. Western journalists were forced to leave the area, and many fixers were being threatened or murdered. Despite their invaluable service to the media, news agencies could offer little or no protection for the fixers, not even so much as providing rushed visas for entry into another country.

Near the end of 2004, an American reporter for the BBC, Quil Lawrence, told Nuri that it was time for him to start reporting his own pieces. Nuri had been working with Lawrence for over a year at the time. Nuri took the advice and became a BBC reporter doing stories for the radio, but wanted to improve his writing in order to become a print journalist. With some help from his American friends, he applied to Columbia University and after much waiting and negotiating, finally arrived in the U.S. to begin his studies this past fall.

“When I interviewed people there, I did not understand many of the things they said” explained Nuri. “In class, I would sit with a dozen American students, and the professor would be talking about something, and suddenly everyone was laughing – but I had no idea why.”

Nuri is here now. Like many other fixers that left Iraq, he cannot follow through on his plan to return because it is too unsafe. He was lucky, however, as many of the fixers that remain in Iraq must do so in order to provide for their families. Others simply refuse to leave and are committed to reporting the stories that no one else will.

For the full article, click here.

Internally displaced persons set up makeshift camps in Iraq

“We didn’t have a choice,” explained Muhammad Bilal, a 43 year old Iraqi man who is now living in an improvised camp outside of Al Hillah, the capital of Babil province of Iraq. Bilal, like thousands of other Iraqis sold his possessions in order to purchase tents and other supplies for his camp, reported the IRIN on Sunday.

Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are strained already from trying to provide for the internally displaced persons in Iraq welcome the initiative that Bilal and about 2,800 others like him have taken in order to support themselves. Saluwa Abdel-Aziz from the Iraqi Voices of Freedom NGO hopes that his organization will soon be able to give more assistance to those setting up their own camps, as well as those trying to start their own.

While families are enjoying the relative peace and security that the camps provide right now, the government is concerned that these camps could just increase the violence in the safer regions of Iraq. Many are concerned that the militants will be drawn to the camps and bring instability to the cities nearby.

For the full article, click here

Iraqi minorities are in grave danger

On Wednesday morning, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom hosted a hearing entitled, “Threats to Iraq’s Communities of Antiquity” in which they discussed the plight of some of Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities.

“The situation is unbelievably bad for minorities. It is difficult to imagine how much worse things could become, but in reality they could become considerably worse,” said Reverend Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad. White was serving the church as recently as two weeks ago before he was forced to flee for his own safety and was at the hearing to testify on the status of the Mandaean, Yazidi, Assyrian, Christian and Jewish minorities in Iraq. White noted that these minorities are being specifically targeted now, and have no means of protection. Thousands of these minority members have fled because they fear for their security. Many have refused to pay the Jezera tax, which is an Islamic tax imposed on non-Muslims, leaving them only the options of conversion to Islam, fleeing their homes or death. Many of those that have remained in Baghdad are now living in churches with little food and water. In White’s church alone, 36 members have been kidnapped on the past month and only one has returned.

“As a coalition, we must accept that we have contributed in a major way to the sufferings and demise of Christians in Iraq. We must accept that we have played a major role in creating the problem but our contribution to dealing with this huge problem has been minimal. In reality, we have done nothing,” White exclaimed. He cited a lack of understanding between the western world and the religious leaders in Iraq. The Coalition has been much too hasty in their plans, and not accurately accounted for the complexity of the religious climate in Iraq. He warned that people on the ground in Iraq have the best understanding of what is happening there, and that outside forces should be very careful in who they’re seeking advice from when it comes to strategy in Iraq. Finally, White called for a need for engagement with Islamic leaders by explaining that Islam and politics are so closely intertwined, and cannot be dealt with separately by the West. The western powers must address religion equally with politics in order to begin to remedy the situation.

White also tried to explain some of the difficulty of dealing with the many parties in Iraq, and how their violence is an expression of their sentiments of loss. Loss of land power is being felt by all parties and is fueling the violence against one another. Also, the radical Islamic notion of equating the West with Christianity has created much animosity towards the Christian minorities, as many feel they are to blame for current conditions.

After White, the hearing also featured testimony from Christian minority leaders expressing the urgency of the situation in Iraq. Pascale Warda, former Minister for Migration and Displacement in Iraq, spoke on behalf of the Assyrians, a Christian minority in Iraq. She stated that according to the United Nations, an estimated 40 percent of the 2.2 million Iraqi refugees are Assyrians. She urged the U.S. government and coalition forces to protect minorities, encouraging them to remain on their ancient lands in Iraq, and aid them with reconstruction and development projects. Warda’s sentiments were resonated in the testimony given by her fellow Assyrians, Donny George who worked for the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and Michael Youash, director of the Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project. George lost his job as the director general of the Iraqi Museums as a result of his religious beliefs and was forced to flee to Syria, and eventually to the U.S. Youash spoke of the persecution of the Assyrians in the north an requested that the U.S. government take action to protect the Assyrians and provide them with aid money to ensure they can provide for their basic needs.

Suhiab Nashi, secretary of the Mandaean Society of America spoke on behalf of the Mandaeans in Iraq. He discussed the threats facing the few remaining Mandaeans in Iraq today and asked that the U.S. government take more steps in the way of protection, as well as granting refugee status to Mandaeans from Iraq.

All of the witnesses shared stories unique to their communities, but each had the same message. The U.S. neglect of the religious situation in Iraq has contributed to the state of chaos the nation finds itself in today. Steps must be taken to ensure that these minorities are provided for and protected. It is past time to take action, and if the international community waits much longer, it will be too late.

Militants threaten women’s rights activists in Iraq

An article written by the IRIN on Tuesday recounted the story of Haifaa Nour, the 33 year old president of the Women’s Freedom Organization (WFO) and her struggle as a female working in Iraq. She, like so many other women, is constantly threatened by Islamic extremists who believe that “women should stop fighting for their rights, and should only look after their children and husbands,” as Nour explained it.

Immediately after the U.S. invasion of Iraq began in 2003, the prospect of advancement for women’s rights was very good. However, with the deterioration of the state in the past two years, it has become almost impossible for women to work, especially for groups that promote women’s rights. Many receive death threats against their own lives or the lives their family members and are forced to leave their jobs. The government has done little to assist these women, and claims the violence is not specifically against women, but rather a result of the general violence throughout the region.

Haifaa Nour continues to work just as she has done since she became president in May after the former president of WFO, Senar Muhammad, was murdered by religious extremists. Her own husband was murdered a year ago because of her work for women’s rights, but she says that has only renewed her determination to work for women’s rights. “Since then I have got more strength to fight for my rights,” stated Nour, “and those of millions of women in Iraq.”

For the full article, click here