Destruction in Ninevah Plains in November 2016. (Photo credit: Ewelina U. Ochab)
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Ewelina U.
Ochab , May 8, 2017
In
November 2016, I visited some of the then recently liberated areas on Ninevah
Plains: Quaragosh, Karamless and Bartallah, towns that Daesh took over in
August 2014. It was a difficult trip. Despite having researched the situation
under Daesh reign for multiple months before my trip, I was not prepared for
what I saw. The area that used to be full of life, became a ghost town. Houses,
churches, schools and shops were looted, burnt down and damaged by Daesh. The
perseverance of Daesh to destroy the area was beyond imagination. It was not
enough for Daesh to force the Christian communities to flee.
It
was not enough for Daesh to enslave girls and women or forcibly recruit boys
and men to fight as Daesh fighters. It was not enough for Daesh to take over
all possessions belongings to Christians. Daesh destroyed all signs of
Christianity in the towns that I visited. Crosses were broken, the statutes of
Jesus and Holy Mary were destroyed, Holy Bibles and books were burnt. As
if Daesh wanted to destroy all evidence of Christians ever living in the
area.
Back
then in November 2016, I remember seeing some people visiting the villages.
They were coming to see what was left of their homes. My big hope was that they
would start returning to the towns, start rebuilding their lives. However, as
recently reported by BBC, this is not the case. Half a year later, people are
still not returning to their homes. Places like Quaraqosh that used to be a
home for over 50,000 people, remains a ghost town haunted by the evil of Daesh
crimes.
The
recent reports have not given me much hope for the future of Christians in
Iraq. However, there is some hope. This hope is Teleskof.
Over
the recent weeks, I have been following the work carried out by the Iraqi
Christian Relief Council, an organisation aiding Christians in the Middle East.
Teleskof is one of the towns where they provide assistance to ensure that
people can return and restart their lives. A massive project considering the
fact that in the first part of 2016, Teleskof was a ghost town (as Quaragosh
and other towns still are till this day). The question then is how can a ghost
town become a home for Christians yet again after Daesh? How can a town without
running water, electricity or infrastructure be turned into a home yet
again? Juliana Taimoorazy, the founder of the organisation and senior fellow at
Philos Project, explained the (still ongoing) process.
First,
the area has to be cleared. This includes removing the ruble, cartridges from
bullets, flags of Daesh and any other reminders of Daesh ever being in the
area. As Ms Taimoorazy mentioned, as Teleskof was being cleaned, people started
retuning to Teleskof. Approximately 430 families have already retuned and this
was still before Teleskof had water access or electricity.
Second,
water access has to be granted. This stage has been completed and all
families that have returned to Teleskof now have access to water.
Iraqi Christian residents of Quaraqosh visiting visit the heavily damaged Church of the Immaculate Conception on April 9, 2017. (Photo credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)
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