Fortenberry Urges Decisive Action to Protect Minority Communities in Northern Iraq

Lincoln, NE - Congressman Jeff Fortenberry today responded to recent reports that one of the last refuges for Iraq’s Chaldean (Assyrian) Christian community continues to be threatened by terrorist violence and systematic minority persecution in northern Iraq.  Severe persecution of the Assyrian Christian community in Baghdad and Basra during 2006 and 2007 was obscured by broader ethnic violence, and the once-thriving Christian community in Basra is now almost completely gone.

“The situation requires quick and decisive action,” Fortenberry said.   “The window of opportunity to avert a humanitarian catastrophe is closing.  An enhanced, coordinated effort by Iraqi security forces, the United States, and the United Nations is needed to protect minorities, including Christians, Shabaks, and Yazidis, in the Nineveh Plain.”

Last month the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) influenced Iraq’s national government to suspend the local police force, setting the stage for the current emergency.  Since the suspension in late September, dozens have been reported killed and thousands have fled their homes.  More than 3,000 families have reportedly fled Mosul, and nearly 600 have abandoned Bartillah.  The Telkaif District mayor described the situation as a “horrific campaign of murder and cleansing.”

Congressman Fortenberry recently urged President Bush to take action to protect Iraq’s religious minorities. In September, Fortenberry helped introduce a House Resolution expressing concern about the plight of Iraq’s vulnerable ethno-religious minorities, including Armenians, Christians, Jewish Iraqis, Mandaeans, and Yazidis. 

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