Once home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East, Iraq today is in danger of losing Christianity completely. The Islamic State group forced thousands of Christians to flee after it stormed through the Nineveh Plains in 2014. Some have now returned, following IS’s military defeat. But even with IS gone, in many areas of Iraq daily life is governed by Sharia (Islamic law) and Muslims are forbidden to leave Islam.
Iraqi-Kurdish violence could push Christians who survived IS ‘to flee for good’
Fresh large-scale fighting in the disputed territory between Iraq and its Kurdish region could further drain the region of Christians – only months after the military defeat of Islamic State persuaded some to return to their homes, experts have warned. Small numbers of Iraqi Christians are gradually returning to the towns […]
Christians returning to former IS-occupied Karamles ‘increasing day to day’
It’s been a year since Karamles was liberated from Islamic State group (IS) militants. It was one of the Nineveh Plains towns east of Mosul that fell to IS as it advanced across northern Iraq in August 2014. The occupation forced Christian families to flee for safer cities like Erbil, […]
Iraq: today’s vote on Kurdish independence is troubling the Middle East
Iraq’s Kurds went to the polls today (25 September) to vote on whether to become a new state, independent of Iraq. According to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFERL) the vast majority will have voted “yes” to the question on the ballot paper: “Do you want the Kurdistan region and […]
Nineveh Christians rebuild their homes, but threats remain in Iraq
With towns and cities such as Qaraqosh and Bashiqa in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains now liberated from Islamic State (IS) forces and their original inhabitants beginning to return, there is confidence among some local Christian leaders that life is slowly beginning to get back to normal. “I am optimistic, yes, very […]
Iraqi Archbishop of Mosul: ‘My cousin, my friend, my teacher – all killed by terrorists’
The last Christian leader to leave Mosul after it was invaded by the Islamic State group in 2014 has spoken about his personal loss to terrorism, as Nuri Kino reports in the Huffington Post. Archbishop Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, who risked his life to stay as long as possible in Mosul, […]
Christian woman freed from Islamic State after 3 years in captivity
A Christian woman held in captivity for three years at an Islamic State stronghold in Iraq is finally home. Rana Esso had been held in Tal Afar, in north-west Iraq, since IS invaded the Nineveh Plains in August 2014. She was released on Sunday (27 August) after Iraqi security forces […]
‘Small window to act’ to restore Christianity in Middle East
“If something bold is not done by the United States and the international community, I believe we will see the end of Christianity in the cradle of Christendom and a loss of religious and ethnic diversity throughout the region,” says former US Representative Frank Wolf upon his return from a […]
Iraqi Christians returning to Nineveh Plains after 3 years ‘need protection’
Three years after Iraq’s Christians fled the Nineveh Plains, driven away by the Islamic State group, human rights lawyer Ewelina Ochab has charted the movements of the Christians and evaluated the likelihood that they will now return. A report published earlier this year showed that 50% of Iraq’s Christians have […]
Archbishop fears persistence of IS ideology despite military defeat
A former archbishop of Mosul has warned that the totalitarian ideology of the Islamic State (IS) group may continue despite the recent recapture of the city and its surrounding areas by Iraqi forces. Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona was among the thousands of Iraqi Christians who fled their homes in northern […]
Eight Baghdad churches close down as Christians still flee Iraq
The closure of eight churches in Baghdad “represents a symbolic defeat” for the Church in Iraq’s capital city, reports International Christian Concern (ICC). The Catholic churches were closed in May by the Vatican after seven years of falling or no attendance, said the charity which monitors persecution, pointing to three […]