Richard Spencer of the Telegraph reports on Dora, a neighbourhood in Baghdad once filled with Assyrians who had fled the Turkish Genocide a century ago and were finally re-settled in Iraqs capital, as well as other Christians. Dora is being de-populated of its Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people. Even though many in Dora fled to the safety of the Nineveh Plains in 2006-8, when sectarian violence in Baghdad was at its height, the ISIS invasion has now seen some return -- only to organise their permanent departure from the country. Tragically mirroring the flight of their ancestors from Turkey to Iraq a century ago, they now flee Iraq to Turkey and elsewhere, putting an end to their ancestral presence in the Middle East. The constant death threats have built on years of bombings and kidnaps to create a psychological turning point for what was once a thriving mixed community. A decade ago, when the Americans and British invaded Iraq, there were 150,000 Christians – mostly Assyrian and Chaldean Catholics – living in Dora. With its broad if dusty streets, and comfortable villas, it must have been a decent place to live. Now, the blast walls that snake through Baghdad turn Dora – like most of the citys suburbs – into a Russian doll of communities: Christians are surrounded by Sunnis, themselves walled off from Baghdads surrounding Shia majority. Just 1,500 Christians remain. - - - If you stay in Mosul, you have Isil, he said. If you move here, you have the militias. So where do you go? ...Iraqs minorities, who see no place for themselves in [the new Iraq] have no militias, and under the plan [to break the country up], few protectors. #DemandForAction #SafeHavenNow
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 06:04:33 +0000
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