The persecution of the Christians

STOCKHOLM Every day we hear about suicide bombings and kidnappings in Iraq. Most people are probably not aware, however, that the continued existence of one of the country’s oldest minorities, the Christian community, is also threatened.

These Christians, nearly one million strong and known as the Chaldo-Assyrians, are in urgent need of the world’s forceful assistance. A wave of anti-Christian violence began in earnest last year on Aug. 1 with a bombing campaign against six churches in Mosul that left several people dead. After a series of explosions on Oct. 16, against five churches in Baghdad, some 40,000 Iraqi Christians fled to neighboring countries out of fear of further extremist attacks.
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Before January’s elections, insurgents intensified their persecution by linking the Christians to the occupying forces. Assassination is one terror tactic used; another is the abduction of Christian businessmen who are held for ransom and often murdered. Christian girls who walk in the streets unveiled have been attacked with acid. Nina Shea of Freedom House has reported how Kurdish administrators have withheld U.S. reconstruction funds from Chaldo-Assyrian areas and confiscated Christian farms and villages. Tens of thousands of Christians were prevented from voting in the January elections.
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Many Christians feel they have no option but to consider leaving their ancient homeland en masse. This would be a terrible setback for the vision of a pluralistic, secular and democratic Iraq. The Chaldo-Assyrians still speak the ancient Aramaic language, but they constitute one of the most modern, skilled and educated communities in Iraq.
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And a serious long-term policy for Mideast democracy must prioritize the fair treatment of ethnic and religious minorities.
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In order to prevent an exodus, Europe must act in concert with the United States, and it needs to be done urgently. Though many Europeans rightfully had qualms about the invasion of Iraq, it is now time for all European states, including my Sweden, to abandon the position of nonengagement. A successful reconstruction of Iraq requires trained soldiers to protect civilian contractors, civil servants, plumbers, electricians, teachers, clergymen and ordinary civilians in their daily lives. Soldiers, police officers and reliable courts are required to safeguard equal rights for various minority ethnic and religious groups.
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But so far, Sweden, for one, has done disgracefully little to preserve such rights. It refuses to reopen its embassy in Baghdad or to train military forces inside or outside Iraq. The policy of nonengagement is of course not exclusively Swedish, but it is particularly irresponsible, since a Swedish citizen, Minas Ibrahim al-Yousifi, remains kidnapped and under a death threat in Iraq. He is a prominent member of the Chaldo-Assyrian minority. The need for Sweden at the very least to establish a diplomatic presence in the country is obvious.
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The Chaldo-Assyrians are gradually being driven out of their ancestral homeland. Can Western Europeans afford to look away from a safe distance as this forced ethnic cleansing takes place in the very cradle of civilization?
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Cecilia Wikstrom is the Swedish Liberal Party?s spokeswoman on Middle East affairs.