ASIA/IRAQ - A Brief Overview: 2,000 deaths and 600,000 Christian refugees in 7 years

Thursday, 4 March 2010

IRAQ

2024-03-25
Chaldean Patriarch Sako: Holy Week is "the time we need"

2024-03-14
Abolition of the quota of seats reserved for minorities in the Autonomous region of Kurdistan. Christian parties appeal to President Abdul Latif Rashid

2024-02-20
Patriarch Sako, message to the Chaldeans: Iraqi Christians are also infected by sectarianism

2024-02-08
Patriarch Sako, message for Lent: in the time of fasting, may the Holy Spirit heal and protect our hearts from the darkness of the world

2024-01-18
Patriarch Sako calls for withdrawal of sectarian militias from the Nineveh Plain

2023-07-05
Heads of Churches and Christian communities in Iraq: the burning of the Koran in Stockholm is an "atrocious and despicable" act

Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) – The following figures compiled by Fides, through local Church sources in Iraq, provide a comprehensive picture of the suffering of Iraqi Christians.

- Since 2003: about 2,000 Iraqi Christians have been killed in several waves of violence
- Between February 27 and March 1, 2010: 870 families, a total of over 4,400 faithful, leave Mosul due to anti-Christian violence
- October 2008: more than 12,000 Christians flee Mosul for a wave of violence
- 40% of Iraqi refugees abroad (a total of about 1.6 million) are Christians (source: UNHCR)
- 44% of Iraqis who have applied for asylum in Syria are Christians. Asylum applications are growing in Jordan, Turkey and in Western countries (especially Sweden and Australia).
- The total number of Christians in Iraq: in 1987 = 1.4 million; in 2003 = 1,2 million; in 2009 = 600,000, many of whom are IDPs.
- Iraq's total population: 27.5 million - 97% Muslim (65% Shiite, 35% Sunni), 3% Christian and other religious minorities. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 4/3/2010)