Destroyed homes in Qaraqosh ©.Jaco Klamer ACN
ishtartv.com - indcatholicnews.com
August
21st, 2017
By: Murcadha
O Flaherty and John Pontifex
Within just one month, up to 15,000 displaced Iraqi Christians are expected to
return to the town in the ancient Nineveh Plains which suffered the worst
violence carried out by Daesh (ISIS). The return of an expected 3,000 families
to Qaraqosh comes amid growing concern among parents to secure places for their
children at local schools – quickly being repaired in time for the new academic
year next month.
Forecasting an upsurge in returnees, Aid to the Church in Need Middle East
projects coordinator Father Andrzej Halemba said that up to 10,000 school
places could soon be available. He said that to date about 5,000 Christians
(1,000 families) have returned to Qaraqosh, a mere fraction of the 50,000
(10,000 families) who lived there until August 2014 when they were forced out
by invading Daesh forces. But, with Daesh largely defeated and renovation work
moving ahead, Father Halemba said that the Baghdad-based government was
encouraging Christians to come back to Qaraqosh and other towns in Nineveh to
take up public sector jobs. He said: “Many internally displaced people have
married and many young people want to move to their villages for stability.”
Father
Halemba said the anticipated resettlement of so many people was putting
pressure on Aid to the Church in Need and other organisations to repair
buildings and renew infrastructure such as electricity and water supply. The
priest said that people were undeterred by temperatures in Qaraqosh of up to
122°F (50°C) and were willing to make the move from Erbil, the capital of
Kurdish northern Iraq, which has been home to the displaced families for the
past three years.
Father Halemba said another reason why so many people were likely to leave
Kurdistan was to escape the increasingly fraught political environment ahead of
a referendum on Kurdish independence due on 25th September. He said:
“Christians note the referendum as a factor of concern.”
Father Halemba said that there had also been an increase in returnees to other
Christian towns and villages across the region. He said ACN was working as
quickly as possible to repair homes across Nineveh, with 986 completed to a
habitable standard. But with another 12,000 houses still to be repaired, Father
Halemba, who is acting chairman of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC),
said much more work was needed.
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