CNEWA

IRAQ UPDATE:
“The Situation is Chaotic”

Stories of interest for the day.

Imad Abou Jaoude is an engineer and projects manager at CNEWA’s regional office in Beirut.

Please note the latest we have on the situation of displaced Iraqi Christians. Sister Marie Goretti of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena reports that the situation is still chaotic, and that they are doing their best to provide a proper stable place for the displaced families. There is a meeting today between different bishops, church communities and local authorities to organize better the work among them.

The largest refugee camps in Erbil and Dohuk are being coordinated by the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul, and Sister Goretti is in close contact with Archbishop Yohanna Boutros Moshe. They are proceeding with the logistics necessary to support the mobile toilet and showers donated by CNEWA’s benefactors. They are also moving along with acquiring milk supplies and diapers for infants and children rushed by CNEWA.

Traveling to the city of Dohuk, where other camps for displaced Christian are located, is now a three-hour trip; 40 minutes more since my last visit. Travel has been diverted into the mountains. Sources have advised me not to go there for the time being, especially if I have a foreigner with me, and to limit my stay in Erbil or Suleimanieh.

Meantime, I can report Erbil is now safe, especially after the U.S. attacks on ISIS, and many international organizations are working there with lots of foreigners — Europeans, Americans and others. Ain Kawa, the Christian neighborhood in Erbil where most of the Christian camps are established, is a very safe area, for now.

I will keep you updated, especially as the bishops, priests, sisters and volunteers — reeling still from their violent expulsion — need more time to organize their work.

Visit this page to learn more about how you can support displaced Iraqi Christians.

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