ASIA/IRAQ - Concrete proposals to preserve the demographic balance in the Christian -majority areas

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Erbil (Agenzia Fides) - The first conference sponsored by the "Friends of Bartala" organization to denounce the tampering of the demographic balance in areas where historically indigenous Christian communities in Iraq were concentrated (Erbil, 23-24 November) was concluded with the proposal of a package of concrete demands to address this emergency. In particular, the organization calls for the creation of a Joint Committee which brings together representatives of the Federal Government, of the regional in Kurdistan and local authorities in the province of Nineveh to develop and implement legal and administrative measures designed to encourage the return of native Christian families who left the region, to protect the Christians in the area of Mosul - still exposed to bullying and targeted violence.
It is also asked to fight the creeping forms of discrimination that penalize Christians at a recruitment level in public bodies. The Association "Friends of Bartala" was established in April 2013, with the intent to develop and propose analysis and initiatives to document and combat the long-term processes intended to change the demographic balance in areas traditionally inhabited by Christian communities, known as the Nineveh Plain. In the two-day conference held in Erbil, we provided statistical data on the processes of alteration of the demographic balance which in recent times have seen the percentage of Christians in cities such as Tall Afar and Bartala significantly reduced. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2013)


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