Christians find Kurdistan safest place in Iraq: KRG
In response to reports accusing Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces of violations against Christians in the region, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made it clear that the reports were baseless, and that the Peshmerga payed ultimate sacrifices to protect the Christians and other religious minority groups.
In an official statement, a copy of which was sent to BasNews, Dindar Zebari, the KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy, said Christians consider the Kurdistan Region to be the safest region for living in Iraq.
On the role of Christians in the government and decision-making process, Zebari stated that Christians have a crucial role in the major decision-making process in the Kurdistan Region main authorities. Christians have representatives in government departments and they are consulted in crucial decisions. Also, they are given high-ranking positions in the government.
The General Directorate of Christian Affairs in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs has authorized eight international evangelical churches to operate in the Kurdistan Region and provide services to the refugees and IDPs, and they are free to practice their holy rituals with no restrictions.
In reference to security and protection, in the light of the Islamic State (IS) attacks that began in 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces had a great role in protecting the Christians and liberating Christian-populated areas as they have protected all other components of the area.
The Peshmerga forces, along with Christians, participated in re-situating the cross in the churches in the newly liberated areas.
Zebari further demonstrated that similar to all other religious and ethnic components in the region, Christians have been given substantial right to education and other services.
The Kurdistan Region education system has long considered the education of other components and made programs in their mother tongue available at schools of all academic levels. Schools in Christian populated areas exist where studying is in Assyrian language such as in Arbil, Ainkawa, Diyana, Shaqlawa, Hawdiyan, Dermota and Koya city. Within the Kurdish populated areas outside the KRG administration, Assyrian schools supported in places such as Hamdaniya, Bartla, Tilkef, Qereqush, Kirmls and Alqush.
The KRG has opened new churches for Christian IDPs who have sought refuge in Erbil, Duhok and Suleymaniyah provinces and they have the freedom of movement.
Zebari refers to the international support of Christians for the Kurdistan Region. They have a high standpoint towards the Kurdistan Region and commend its efforts treating and aiding all religious and ethnic components. On September 27, 2015, an important religious ceremony took place in Erbil. A representative from Vatican was present at the event where the world Assyrian and Central East Church’s chair was moved to Erbil from the United States.
This significant event is an indicator of that the Kurdistan Region is and always has been the cradle of democracy, freedom and coexistence. The presence of such a crucial religious medium as such elevates the status of the Kurdistan Region internationally and will encourage the Christians to bind by their homeland and to not immigrate.
The ceremony was a historical event as 80 years ago the headquarters of Assyrians was transferred to Chicago, USA from Iraq and in 2015; it was transferred back to Erbil considering it is the safest region in Iraq.
The Kurdistan Region accommodates all components with open arms. This is reflected in the past few years of the Kurdistan Region’s successful governance system. Such an important occasion in the Kurdistan Region happened at a time when Iraq was in the worst security conditions and ISIS had been ravaging its major cities leaving huge destructions. For this reason, the KRG efforts towards Christians have been acknowledged by the international community.
In reference to the Christian land issues, Dr. Zebari outlined that the KRG supports farmers community without discriminating against anyone based on religion, race or ethnicity. This, in turn, serves the purpose of improving Agriculture sector in the Kurdistan Region. The KRG Council of Ministers has dedicated its efforts to fulfill the requests of Christian farmers and their land issues as they are one of the ancient inhabitants of the Kurdistan Region. A special committee was formed to resolve this issue and it is currently in the last phase of its activities. The committee recommended that the case of Christian land issues be dealt with as an exceptional case and the Duhok provincial council as well as governorate office have been assigned to implement the recommendation presented. Nevertheless, a number of Muslim farmers were underprivileged as they have been given the lands in 1996 and they have owned it for 20 years.
Retaking these lands from them requires long process of legal and administrative procedures, however, the KRG continues to resolve the issues.
The Ministry of Agriculture has done its part to fulfill requests of Christians who have property issues, and solving the disputes over their lands.
Prior to the Kurdish uprising and the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Ba’th Regime had violated the rights of all components including of the Christians. Hence, it has been challenging for the KRG to properly resolve this issue swiftly as it is an old challenge and other non Christians farmers live on those lands. Deliberately, in order to deteriorate relations between Muslims and Christians, for instance the Ba’th Regime transferred and settled people from Choman town on Christian lands in Gavana village. Similar communities were also created on Muslim lands.
Post-uprising, as the KRG was not financially stable, these communities became de-facto areas since the KRG was not able to destroy the communities and compensate the residents. On the other hand, requests of some Christian farmers are invalid and do not conform to the implemented laws.
According to the applicable laws, the determined rights of Christians have been ensured, some Christians are aware of this fact. The real concerns are on certain limited number of villages and the details are as the following:
1. 23 farmers (21 Christians and 2 Muslims) in Gavana village were granted lands in 1974. Following the destruction of Gavana after 1974, the residents immigrated and many of them went to Baghdad and did not return.
2. After the uprising, regulations specific to those destructed villages were issued. Regulation No. 2 of 1992 demands the allocation of lands to those farmers whose properties were demolished with the condition of appearing before the investigation committee. The investigation committee began its work in 1996. Farmers who appeared before the committee were granted their rights back, whether Christian or Muslim. As some lands remained, they were given to 36 other farmers in the villages.
3. Nevertheless, the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region respects the rights of the Christians as they are one of the most ancient components in the Kurdistan Region, and has formed a special committee to follow-up with the lost land cases. The committee came up with the resolution that it should make an “exception of law” to return the lands back to the Christian farmers.
Under the authorization of the President’s order, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and Duhok administration was ordered to implement the decision. Nevertheless, 13 other Christian and Muslim farmers were disadvantaged from the decision as they have been owners of those lands since 1996. Despite this, the KRG continued its efforts to solve these land issues.
There have been deliberate attempts to undesirably impact the peaceful coexistence among all KR components. These attempts include accusing the Peshmerga forces and spreading baseless propaganda that the Peshmerga forces have made some violations and have seized Christians’ lands. The sacrifices that Peshmerga have made to protect the civilians and their areas are not taken into consideration. The claims also disregard the humanitarian assistance and the significant reception by the KRG for the large number of refugees and IDPs who claimed refuge in the Kurdistan Region on a yearly basis.
Source: BasNews
