With international assistance and a measure of justice and stability, Iraq’s ancient minority groups may stand a chance
Three years ago this week, the extremist Islamic State group stormed across north-central Iraq, launching a deadly assault on the Yazidi communities clustered around Mount Sinjar. Other minority groups, including Shabaks as well as Christians such as Chaldeans and Assyrians, also faced crushing oppression and destruction at the hands of ISIS. Today, as Iraqi and Kurdish forces recapture most territory from ISIS, the future of minorities in Iraq remains uncertain. To an even greater extent than Sunni and Shia areas destroyed by ISIS, minority communities face continuing security risks, humanitarian needs, a devastated economy and the imperative of reconciliation.
Three years ago this week, the extremist Islamic State group stormed across north-central Iraq, launching a deadly assault on the Yazidi communities clustered around Mount Sinjar. Other minority groups, including Shabaks as well as Christians such as Chaldeans and Assyrians, also faced crushing oppression and destruction at the hands of ISIS. Today, as Iraqi and Kurdish forces recapture most territory from ISIS, the future of minorities in Iraq remains uncertain. To an even greater extent than Sunni and Shia areas destroyed by ISIS, minority communities face continuing security risks, humanitarian needs, a devastated economy and the imperative of reconciliation.
The challenges of re-establishing minority communities—and the hope for overcoming the obstacles—were outlined starkly in a conversation at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Aug. 1. The speakers, addressing the issue from a range of perspectives, agreed that physical security is the first condition needed to bring back displaced people and keep others from leaving. To meet those and the other needs, panelists said, the critical question is where will the help come from. Without a financial and security commitment from the international community, the prospects for Iraq’s historic minorities are bleak, they said.
It would not be the first failure by the international community to rescue Iraq’s religious minorities, said Naomi Kikoler, the deputy director of the Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and the moderator of the program. The panel was organized by USIP and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Read on What Schools Teach about Religion & Religious Freedom on USIP website here