CPTnet
26 September 2011
IRAQ: No place for Christian families, Part II

by David Hovde

In April 2011, Bassam William and his family lived in a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad.  Some of their neighbors, who in the past had visited with them, eaten with them, and spent time with them in their house, later told William and his family that there was no place for Christians in that neighborhood and that he and his family would have to leave the neighborhood and the country.  On 17 April 2011, William found a note on his car from Kataa'ib Saraya Al Haq (Righteousness Brigade), a militia that broke away from the Mahdi Army.  Kataa'ib Saraya Al Haq receives training in Iran and targets Americans and Christians.  In the letter, they used profanity to threaten William's family.  The letter said that they had to leave this Muslim country immediately or they would kill all his family members, and that there was no place for Christians Baghdad. 

After two days, William and his family left Baghdad, leaving their house and furniture behind.  They heard that people could go to Syria and stay there for up to three years while applying for asylum in another country.  William went to Syria to try to apply for asylum.  He heard of people who had been there for three years, spent up all their money and had not been given asylum in another country.  He decided to move with his family to Suleimaniya in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 

William and his family now live in Suleimaniya in a crowded apartment and sleep on the floor.  He does not have a job.  His wife, Maha Mashalla, sometimes travels all the way back to Baghdad to work.  Though his family receives some financial assistance, it is not enough to cover the rent.  They desperately want to find asylum in another country. 

William says there used to be 1,500,000 Christians in Iraq.  Now there are about 300,000.  The churches in Baghdad are guarded by troops or behind walls now.  William says that someday there may really be no more Christians in Iraq.