Michelle Vu reports in The Christian Post on a protest held Monday outside the White House by Christians trying to bring attention to the plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Although most religious and ethnic groups are suffering in Iraq, Vu reports that this tiny segment of the Iraqi population is especially vulnerable.
“This should be a priority because Assyrian Christians are the indigenous people of Iraq and many people don’t know that,” explained Paul Isaac, one of the rally’s organizers. “Because of their small population, weak status, and lack of regional support they have no one to protect them from all the violence.”
Isaac pointed to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) report statistic that although Assyrians comprise only five percent of Iraq’s population, they make up nearly 40 percent of the refugees fleeing Iraq. He said that although all the ethnic and religious groups are suffering in Iraq, “it is clear that the Assyrian Christians are suffering by far the most…and they really have no one to protect them…”
In addition to the troubling Assyrian refugee statistic, there has been a rise in reports of persecution of Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Recently, in October, a 14-year-old boy near Mosul died by a crucifixion-murder. In the same month, Father Paulis Iskander was beheaded in Mosul.
For more information on the Christians of Iraq, visit ChristiansofIraq.com. For much more information on the persecution of Christians around the world, visit The Voice of the Martyrs. And as always, remember our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in your prayers.
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