UN Photo/Steven Bornholtz
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WASHINGTON – United Nations
“refugee” programs have focused on Muslims in the Middle East for years, even
though the populations of Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in
the region have been under siege.
A recent report from notes that
“Christians are the victims of at least 75 percent of all religiously motivated
violence and oppression.”
The organization said more than
half of Iraq’s Christians now are internal refugees, having been driven from
their homes.
The Syrian city of Aleppo was
home to the largest Christian community in the Middle East in 2011. But the
Christian population there is down more than 75 percent in just six years, the
report notes, from 150,000 to about 35,000.
Still, U.N. programs largely have
selected Muslims to come to the United States, Britain and other countries as
refugees in recent years.
But now there’s been a shift,
with the United Nations conceding there is a problem with the persecution of
Christians.
Two U.N. officials have that the
international body will aid persecuted Christians.
ACLJ sent a to Adama Dieng, the
U.N.’s under-secretary-general and special adviser regarding the prevention of
genocide, urging the U.N. to acknowledge the reality of the genocide being
perpetrated by ISIS against Christians and other religious minorities.
Dieng responded, assuring ACLJ he
will hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable and pledging the U.N. will
provide a safe return home for those wrongfully displaced.
“I have also reiterated that
taking steps toward accountability is critical to demonstrating that all
populations will have a place in the future of Iraq, including ethnic and
religious minorities,” Dieng stated in his response.
The United Nations, he said, will
also encourage Iraq to lead the way in protecting Christians and preventing
genocide.
“In the absence of accountability
processes at the national level, the international community can explore the
options that you set out in your letter, some of which can also be initiated by
the government of Iraq,” he said. “I have personally shared these options with
the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq.”
Dieng is backing up his promise
with action, including leading the U.N. to unanimously adopt , ACLJ said.
calls for the creation of an
investigative team for the purpose of “collecting, preserving, and storing
evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocide committed by the terrorist group [ISIS] in Iraq,” evidence that
will then be used to hold ISIS members accountable.
“We’ve seen the U.N. begin to
act,” ACLJ explained. “After Mr. Dieng shared our policy proposal with Iraq,
Iraq took that proposal to the U.N. We also urged action from the British government,
which then worked with Iraq at the U.N. to propose a key U.N. Security Council
resolution. That resolution to take the first step on our genocide proposal
just passed unaminously.”
In a to ACLJ last week, Ivan
Simonovic, another U.N. adviser regarding the responsibility to protect at-risk
populations, also vowed to take immediate to protect religious minorities.
“We need to ensure that all
minority groups have a space in the future of Iraq,” Simonovic stated.
The U.N.’s acknowledgement of
Christian persecution comes just weeks after President Trump ordered the State
Department to stop funding the U.N’s humanitarian programs the administration
claims are inadequately combating the persecution of Christians in the Middle
East.
Speaking at the In Defense of
Christians summit in Washington, D.C., last month, Vice President Mike Pence
the State Department’s funding of “ineffective” U.N. relief efforts will be
terminated and replaced by providing humanitarian assistance directly through
U.S. Agency for International Development and “faith-based groups.”
Pence sharply criticized the
U.N., arguing the international body has “often failed to help the most
vulnerable communities especially religious minorities.”
“We will no longer rely on the
United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake
of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups,” Pence said to applause.
Pence argued that the U.N. is
neglecting vulnerable communities, especially religious minorities, and said
persecuted Christians in the Middle East have not been getting the relief they
need.
“My friends, those days are
over,” Pence said. “Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the
Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America
can help them directly.
“We will no longer rely on the
United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake
of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups,” Pence said. “The United
States will work hand-in-hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and
private organizations to help those who are persecuted for their faith. This is
the moment, now is the time, and America will support these people in their
hour of need.”
Pence is to visit the Middle East
in December, where he will discuss peace agreements with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and tell various
leaders it is time to bring an end to the persecution of Christians and
religious minorities.
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