Qaraqosh was ravaged by ISIS, who seized it in June 2014 as they rampaged across parts of northern Iraq. Although the group has been expelled from Qaraqosh in October 2016, life has not returned to its once-vibrant and wealthy neighbohoods. (AFP)
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AFP,
Qaraqosh, Iraq Wednesday, 29 March 2017
In
the Iraqi Christian town of Qaraqosh, time stands still. The ISIS group was
expelled in October 2016, but life has not returned to its once-vibrant and
wealthy neighborhoods.
It
has a ghostly air: wide avenues silent but for the rattle of an empty tin can
nudged by the breeze or dead leaves rustling in front gardens abandoned by
residents.
The
town sits on a main route from the city of Arbil, so cars occasionally speed
through, but few people stop any more. AFP reporters visited the town several
times in March, speaking to residents earlier in the month and returning to its
empty streets in recent days.
Qaraqosh
was ravaged by ISIS, who seized it in June 2014 as they rampaged across parts
of northern Iraq, capturing second city Mosul and swathes of the area known as
the Nineveh Plain, home to much of the county’s dwindling Christian minority.
The
extremists worked to erase any signs of the faith from Qaraqosh.
They
smashed icons, toppled church bell towers and systematically chiseled out the
crucifixes that once adorned each panel of the outer wall of the Mar Bahnam wa
Sara church.
House
after house was torched or blown up, and the Mary al-Tahira church was defaced
with the group’s flag and threats.
“Without
the state of Islam, there will be no safety or peace in either Iraq or Syria,”
read graffiti on the mottled marble of one pillar.
The
church’s courtyard was used for target practice, and hundreds of bullet casings
still sit in piles alongside sheet music for hymns.
The
scene was heartbreaking for Aram Saqt, 24.
“My
whole life was here and it was a happy life,” he told AFP.
“My
feelings are more than sadness, I can say I’m destroyed,” he added, walking
through the scorched main hall of the Mary al-Tahira church and crossing
himself at the altar.
“I
want to cry, honestly. When you remember the life you had, and how it is now,
it’s something very sad.”
‘Nowhere
like it’
Qaraqosh,
also known as Hamdaniya or Bakhdida, was once one of Iraq’s most important
Christian towns.
But
now most people on its streets are, like Saqt, members of the Nineveh Plain
Protection Units (NPU), a small Christian militia charged with protecting the
town.
The
fighters have little to do, beyond checking cars at the town’s entrance and
exit, as the danger posed by ISIS recedes with the Iraqi government’s offensive
against the group in nearby Mosul.
But
if Qaraqosh is now safe, residents say returning remains impossible, with basic
services yet to be restored and no way yet to repair their homes.
“Where
could we go back to? There should be water, electricity, sewerage, safety,”
shouted Imama Behnan, now living in nearby Arbil with her family.
“We
waited for them to liberate it so we could go back, and now this is liberation,”
she sighed.
When
she left her house in 2014, she assumed the exile would be brief.
“I
cleaned the house... closed it up and left. We thought it would be a day or two
and we’d go back. Now it’s been three years,” she said, weeping.
Many
Qaraqosh residents have given up, emigrating to Europe, the United States or
Australia, but Behnan refused to join her daughter in The Netherlands.
She
and others like her in Arbil receive some assistance from the church, whose
leadership moved to the city with its flock.
But
they still yearn for home.
“There
was nowhere like Qaraqosh -- even ISIS said they couldn’t believe it,” she
laughed.
‘They
don’t want us to return’
Qaraqosh’s
emptiness reflects the challenge faced by Iraqi authorities in many towns and
villages liberated from ISIS, but remain devoid of services and infrastructure
and lacking reconstruction funds.
But
Qaraqosh residents also allege they are trapped in a political dispute between
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region and the country’s federal government.
They
accuse Kurdish forces of preventing them from going home, and seeking to expand
their control over the town.
“They
don’t want Christians to return here, they want to control these areas,” said
Jamil Salaheddin al-Jamil, a Qaraqosh native and NPU member.
“They
want to take these areas because they’re areas that belong to the Christians
and they are strategic areas between Arbil and Mosul.”
Such
accusations are repeated by others, who accuse Kurdish forces of even
preventing burials at the local graveyard.
But
the deputy interior minister of the Kurdish regional government denied the
charges.
“We
hope that the displaced will return to their homes as soon as possible, and
from our side we don’t put any obstacles in the way of their return,” Jalal
Karim told AFP.
He
acknowledged that some displaced could not return because of “bombs and mines
laid in the areas”, but insisted that “we are helping (the displaced) and
encouraging them to return”.
Residents
feel they have no one to turn to, and Jamil has decided to emigrate to France,
after years of advocating for a Christian presence in Iraq.
“I
had hope and dreams, all of it, but I’ve had enough.
“The
Arabs don’t respect me, the Kurds don’t respect me, the government doesn’t
respect me,” he said.
“Why
should love for the nation go in only one direction?”
House after house in Qaraqosh was torched or blown up, and churches were destroyed or defaced with the ISIS flag and threats (AFP)
Qaraqosh may now be safe but residents say returning remains impossible, with basic services yet to be restored and no way yet to repair their homes (AFP)
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