“Even though IS is being driven out of the area, many native Christians will not return until they are given guarantees from the Iraqi government, Kurdish Regional Government and the international community that they will be able to live without fear that another radical Islamic uprising will put their lives in danger once again.”
Iraqi Christians are uncertain if they will be included in negotiations deciding the power structure of a post-Islamic State northern Iraq, an Iraqi Christian human rights activist told The Christian Post.
Although Iraqi-led coalition forces are fighting to liberate Mosul and many Christian villages in the Nineveh Plains from IS (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh), much uncertainty remains about what the future will look like for Iraqi Christians in their ancient homelands.
Even though IS is being driven out of the area, many native Christians will not return until they are given guarantees from the Iraqi government, Kurdish Regional Government and the international community that they will be able to live without fear that another radical Islamic uprising will put their lives in danger once again.
Loay Mikhael, head of the foreign relations committee of the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council and deputy chairman of the Soraya Charity Organization in Nineveh, told CP that Iraqi Christians are ideally looking for a way to return to their homelands and “rule themselves” with a certain level of autonomy.
“We believe that situation should be that after liberating Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, the Christians should be able to rule themselves — whether that is creating a province or if there is any sort of safe haven or autonomy for Christians in the region so they can rule themselves — be protected by themselves and have international community aid and U.S. military assistance to be able to sustain themselves, at least for a while,” Mikhael said.
Mikhael added that when the government and KRG and other actors in the area previously met to discuss the Nineveh Plains, Christians were not a part of that conversation.
“The Christian forces, by the way, were not a part of their conversation agreement after the post-liberation of the area,” Mikhael said. “So, I don’t think we know whether there is a seat for us to be in the process of negotiating or what will happen.”
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