MENA Minorities

Readers of this blog might remember, that the case of Swiss nationals fighting in Syria for the YPG-affiliated Syriac Military Council had been a topic here already. Now German magazine Focus published a report about this approximately 10 fighters and the support they are receiving from the neutral country. „Kampf ist christliche Pflicht“ Kreuzzug gegen den Terror: Schweizer Christen ziehen gegen IS in den Krieg by Focus Online A very great article by Rania Abouzei for National Geographic deals with the current political situation of the Christians in northern Iraq, including it's leadership, plans for autonomy and the recent phenomena of Christian militias, even though their establishment is (so far) rather symbolic. The latter is a huge difference to the passivity of the Christians during the civil war after the fall of Saddam Hussain, when the Christians reacted with passivity to persecution. This shift is also reflected by the contacts of the Assyrian Democratic Movem

In contrast to the case of the Christians, which is more an expulsion, what is happening now to the Yazidis clearly has genocidal features. Other minorities like the Shabak might be next. One of the best overviews comes from Matthew Barber (also read his piece on the expulsion of Mosul's Christians) for Syria Comment: IS Routs Peshmerga, Takes Control of Sinjar Mountains, Jeopardizes Yazidi Homeland by Matthew Barber, Syria Comme nt Some round-up: Iraq’s Religious Minorities are Being Slaughtered and ISIS Just Captured the Last Town Giving Them Shelter by Andrew Slater, The Daily Beast In a major defeat for Kurdish forces the Iraqi town of Sinjar was captured Sunday by the group known as ISIS, now calling itself the Islamic State. This is the Kurds first major loss to ISIS and a catastrophe for the religious minorities who had taken refuge in the area and are now at imminent risk of being slaughtered. Reports from the region describe an unfolding tragedy with

Mosul's Christians Say Goodbye by Christian Caryl, Foreign Policy Assyrians and Christians under attack in Iraq and Syria  by Stephen Starr, The Irish Times Iraqi Christians Huddle Miles From Militants in Mosul , AFP   Iraqi Christians find refuge in ancient monastery by Jane Arraf, AlJazeera America Militants' advance threatens Christians in Iraq  by Arwa Damon, CNN

The ISIS' takeover of Mosul, Iraq's second city, threatens the fragile Christian presence in the Ninawa plain, which has developed in recent times. Nina Shea has a very pessimistic reading of the Christian perspective in Iraq - and there is little to object at the moment even though it seems like ISIS has not reached the Christan strongholds yet. Btw, Italian Priest Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, who was kidnaped by ISIS in Raqqa, is most likely alive according to recent Italian reports , contrary to the article below: The Cleansing of Iraq's Christians Is Reaching It's End Game by Nina Shea,  The National Interest

Christen in der autonomen Region Kurdistan DER STANDARD veröffentlichte einen Interessanten Artikel über irakische Christen in der Autonomen Region Kurdistan. Im Unterschied zu z.B. Bagdad oder Mosul sind dort die Christen unter kurdischer Kontrolle relativ sicher vor islamistischem Terror, was zu einem starken Zuzug von Christen aus anderen Landesteilen geführt hat. Es hat den Anschein als ob sich die christliche Präsenz unter kurdischer Kontrolle zunehmend konsolidieren würde. Vor diesem Hintergrund erhalten sogar Bestrebungen nach einem eigenen assyrischen Autonomiegebiet in der Ninawa-Ebene Auftrieb. Unterdessen existiert auch eine christliche Miliz, die mit den kurdischen Sicherheitskräften zusammenarbeitet. Die tausenden Flüchtlinge belasten die Staatskassa, und es droht der Zorn islamischer Extremisten. Laut Bischof Warda nimmt Barzani sie dennoch mit Großzügigkeit auf, gewährt ihnen Wohn- und  Arbeitsrecht  und nötigenfalls auch Sozialhilfe. Doch die Verfolgung hat au