“Many minority communities in Iraq” now “on the verge of disappearance,” international report says

Most Christians have fled the country · Turkmen, Yezidi, Kaka'i, Shabak populations also hit by conflict

06.07.201616.30h

The state of conflict in Iraq since 2003 is having devastating effects on the diversity of peoples and communities living in the Middle Eastern country. Numbers of Christians, Yezidis, Kaka'is and Turkmens who remain in Iraq are rapidly declining, according to a report by several international groups, who also decry a lack of political effort to promote the return of those who have been forced to flee.

The report No Way Home: Iraq's minorities on the verge of disappearance, which is based on interviews and field work, has been compiled by international organizations Ceasefire, UNPO, No Peace Without Justice, IILHR and Minority Rights Group.

The report estimates that a mere quarter of a million Christians now remain in Iraq, a figure that before 2003 stood between 800,000 and 1.4 million people. Even before the emergence of the Islamic State, they were just 350,000 people. After the rise of the extremist group, it shrank to 250,000.

Other minority communities are undergoing similar situations. "Most of the Yezidi and Kaka’i populations have been forced from their traditional lands in Ninewa and are now subsisting as IDPs or have fled the country altogether," the report says. Atrocities undergone by Shiite Turkmen and Shabak communities are also reported.

The authors point to the responsibility of the Islamic State in the disaster, but also write that the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government have not protected -or even have "intimidated"- some of the affected groups.

As regards IDPs, the situation could still be worsened by an announced military operation by the Iraqi government -but not yet carried out- to retake Mosul, the main city in Iraq's north, now held by the Islamic State. The operation could raise the number of IDPs to over 4 million, the report warns.