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The Invasion of Iraq and hidden consequences for Christians...

The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 resulted in protracted conflict within the country by many different protagonists --Sunni and Shi’a Islamic groups, Kurds and Ba’athist loyalists as well as criminal individuals and groups. The Christians, along with the rest of the population, found themselves subjected to kidnappings, eviction from their homes, threats to make them close their businesses, and other forms of intimidation. Many fled the country but the Christians became a disproportionately large section of the refugees- approximately 25% - although they were only 3-5% of the Iraqi population as a whole. The greater number of these Christian refugees came to Syria. JMECA has partly sponsored an academic research by Joshua Kassanis into their situation. He has produced a 76 page analysis based on field studies with the families who settled in the city of al- Hassaka. His study reveals harrowing details of their changed circumstances. Here, we reproduce his conclusions:

The Iraqi Christian refugees who came to Hassake, Syria during the years 2003-2008 have found everything they need to survive. In Hassake, the Iraqi Christian refugees find a sympathetic population who still remember the persecution of their own community during the time of their grandparents. The Churches provide aid, especially the Syrian Orthodox Church which is the wealthiest in Hassake and as such the most able. This is in addition to the support provided by the UNHCR, which set up a base of operations in Hassake due to the large numbers of refugees who came there, alongside the Red Crescent and Caritas.

With the savings brought with them or with the aid which they receive from the Churches and the other charitable organisations they rent flats, and houses, often sharing with one or two other families. This has driven up rents and property prices. This is in addition to the general inflation which has been caused by the presence of the Iraqi refugees.

The protracted stay of the Iraqi refugees has induced a harder financial situation for all, and particularly for the Syrian poor who have to cope with greater competition for work in addition to inflation. Among the Syrian poor there is a widespread resentment of the aid specifically given to the Iraqi refugees, as they feel that they themselves are just as deserving of aid. By necessity, even though it is formally forbidden, the Iraqi young men take up work in the lower-paid end of the labour market because these are the only jobs for which they are accepted. This means that the poorer sections of the Syrian communities of Hassake, who would usually provide the work-force for the lower paid jobs, have found it harder to secure employment.

The Syrian government allows the Iraqi children to enter state schools, and, once certificates of education were found, or schools provided internal assessments, the classrooms saw a mixed Syrian and Iraqi population. The influx of Iraqi children to Syrian schools seems not to have impaired the quality of the education provided or created an environment it which it is more difficult to study.

Similarly, the presence of the Iraqis has had no discernible effect on the price or availability of medicines or medical care in Hassake. The only effect of the Iraqi refugees being in the Syrian schools which I observed was that the Syrian children sometimes bullied their Iraqi classmates because the latter were from a different country.

Spiritually, the Christians of Hassake are robust. They consciously bear the heritage of the faith of their grandparents who underwent persecution in Tur ‘Abdin and Mardin in what is now southern Turkey. The Syrian Orthodox Church has at least two services every day and sees over a thousand people attend its morning service on Sunday.

Syrian Orthodox Cathedral Hassake

For them the faithfulness of the Iraqi Christians in not disowning their religion during the persecution they suffered is something ‘usual’, to quote the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Syrian Mesopotamia. However, even if there were to be any mutual spiritual encouragement there is very little contact between the Iraqi Christian refugees and the Syrian Christians for this to happen.

The Iraqi Christian refugees are accommodated by the Syrian Christian communities of Hassake and are largely amiably tolerated, by them. They are able to survive, even if it is precariously, due to the availability of support from the NGOs and the Churches. They are not, however, able to make Hassake a permanent home. This is ultimately because they are not able to save money to support themselves in old age. Their visas still officially forbid them from work and so working at a professional level, as many of the Iraqi Christian refugees are qualified to do, is impossible. They cannot return to Iraq because of the security situation which sees no sign of improving, in addition to personal threats by terrorists to individuals’ lives in Iraq. The hope which was presented to me by every Iraqi family whom I met was to attain asylum in the West.

The UN facilitates Iraqi asylum to the West but ultimately will not be able, nor does it aim to, evacuate every Iraqi Christian refugee. A confederation of German Churches managed to secure asylum for 2,500 Iraqi Christian refugees from Syria in 2008. These programmes, however, are very rare. This means that there is a distinct possibility that an Iraqi Christian remnant could stay in Syria permanently. If they remained without the legal right to work they would find it even more difficult to live as the current generation grows old and becomes increasingly dependent on their children who cannot work in jobs higher-paid than service in shops and restaurants and hairdressing.

The effect on the Syrian Christian population of a remnant of Iraqi Christians could possibly take two courses.

One would be that the Iraqis would eventually be permitted to work officially, taking professional jobs as appropriate. Then they would just become, in the Syrian Christian eyes, another neighbouring community, given the minimal contact that occurs between the Syrians and the Iraqis in Hassake. Very few Iraqis I met entertained any thought that the situation in Iraq might improve.

The other possibility would be if the Iraqis never received the legal right to work and simply could not survive if NGO support ceased, given the passage of time and the Syrian Churches were not able to bare this burden. They might turn to crime in this hypothetical situation, and so become a menace to the Syrian communities of Hassake. However, that they should be allowed to remain and never be officially permitted to work, considering that Palestinians are permitted to hold professional and even government posts within Syria, seems very unlikely.

Joshua Kassanis