A displaced Iraqi Christian has spoken of the despair she feels almost three years after being forced to flee her home in Qaraqosh in the Nineveh Plains.
“What did we do to deserve this? I hate travelling and immigration, but today, for the sake of my children, if I had a chance to emigrate, I would,” Lubna Yusef told a delegation of visiting church leaders.
“If there was protection for us back home, this wouldn’t happen. But how long can we go on living where we are now? I am young, but I feel like my life is over. Yet what about my children? Who can guarantee that something even worse than ISIS will not come along and destroy the life of my children?”
“Our priests are telling us to stay because this is our country, this is our civilisation. But why do we repeatedly have to start from zero? If I go to Europe or the United States, would they accept the diploma that I have from here? Of course not.
“So don’t bring any material things for us. We don’t want that stuff. I will work hard and I will buy what I need. But I can’t buy my life. I want security. I want to sleep at night without worrying about the morning. We don’t want you to help us rebuild our houses. Even more important, we want our dignity back.”
Source: WCC