Thousands of Christians in Iraq have fled the country after receiving death threats.DAMASCUS, 15 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - Some 35,000 Iraqi Christians have fled to Syria as a result of death threats by religious zealots since the ousting of former President Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraqi sources in Damascus said.
Emanuel Khoshba, head of the office of the Assyrian and Democratic Movement in Syria, said that Iraqi Christians continue to flee to Syria in large numbers.
"In 2004, the number of Iraqi Christians who fled to Syria stood at 20,000; now [in 2006] it has reached 35,000 and it's likely to increase further," Khoshba said.
There are around 1.2 million Iraqi Christians in Iraq, representing three percent of the country's 26 million inhabitants. Christians fleeing Iraq say that in Syria they have found security and freedom to practice their religion.
"I felt terribly insecure in Iraq. I sold everything there and came to Syria and started a job here in transport," said Johnny Nano, 29, an Iraqi Christian who fled to Syria in 2003 for fear of his life. "I don’t think of returning to Iraq as the security situation [there] doesn't allow me. Besides, my life is stable now here, so why go back?"
Arkan Hanna Hakim, 40, is a priest from Mosul who was appointed two months ago to supervise the Iraqi Assyrian sect in Damascus. "More than 2,000 Iraqi Christian families are now in Jaramana quarter [southern Damascus] alone, and a lot of Christians have received warnings to leave Iraq or face killing," he said, adding that threats against Christians in Iraq have increased following Pope Benedict's recent remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.
Nineteen-year-old Fadi Raad Naaomi is one such Iraqi Christian whose family narrowly escaped death before leaving Iraq. Fadi said that he abandoned his studies in Baghdad and fled to Syria a day after his 52-year-old father, Raad, was kidnapped at a church.
"We received a call telling us if we want to see our father we have to pay a ransom and not let the police know," said Fadi. His family collected the equivalent of US $10,000 and three days later Raad was released.
However, Fadi said that despite such incidents, he and his family will return to Iraq. "We are Christians, a minority with no voice there and threatened to death every day, but there is no other way, we don't have money to stay in Syria."
Reproduced with the kind permission of IRIN
Copyright IRIN 2006
Photo: Copyright Afif Sarhan/IRIN
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