US State Department Says Christian Autonomy in Iraq is Being Considered

Iraq’s Christians suffer much from persecution and are fleeing the country. Yesterday Metro published articles on why equally many Iraqi refuges seek shelter in Södertälje, Sweden, as in the entire U.S. Iraq’s non —Muslim minorities, most of them Assyrians (Syriacs and Chaldeans) face systematic cleansing in the shadow of the Iraq war. Now even the U.S department for Foreign Affairs is ringing the alarm bell exclusively for Metro by stating that they regard the situation seriously and that they have taken several measures in order to stop the persecution. One of the solutions can be a safe haven. In talks with Metro the U.S department for Foreign Affairs has opened up for the possibility to give Christians, and other minorities, in Iraq an area of their own, where they will be safe.

In the north of Iraq, just south of Kurdistan, there is an area named Nineveh which is almost entirely populated by Iraq’s minorities, most of them Christians. Many are now calling for this area to become an administrative area of its own, a protective zone, where Christian Iraqis can feel safe.

The Kurds needed protection in 1991. The year 2007 others are in need of protection. We are working to enhance the consciousness among members of Congress and request from the American Congress to support that Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs and other minorities who live parallel to them in the north part, which is called the Nineveh Plaines, shall have their own administrative area. There is support for this in the Iraqi constitution says Michael Youash from the think-tank called Iraqi Sustainable Democracy Project in Washington.

In an email to Metro the responsible civil servant from the U.S department for Foreign Affairs stresses that the most important issue is for Iraq to remain a united — federal country. Previously the plan included three federations, one for Sunni Muslims, one for Shia Muslims and one for Kurds, but now the creation of yet another federation is thinkable for the department for Foreign Affairs.

The President of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden, Simon Barmano, says he supports the proposition and wants the Swedish government to act so the Assyrians may have a sanctuary. That is also the standpoint of Fredrick Malm, spokesman of the Swedish co-governing liberal party, Folkpartiet, on issues of political refugees.

"I support autonomy for the Assyrians in Nineveh," he says, "But their safety and security must also be guaranteed."

Another reason for wanting a safe haven is the possibility that the large number of refuges, now living under terrible circumstances in the neighbouring countries, may return.

"If we have an own administrative area where protection is guaranteed then many of the refugees in the neighbouring countries can chose to return instead of go to western countries," says Barmano

By Nuri Kino
www.metro.lu