Iraq and Syria: Christians in fear

When talking about Iraq or Syria today, it is urgent to consider that these two countries no longer exist as unified political entities. Even though they are members of the UN, it is not possible to speak of complete sovereignty of these two mainly Arab-Muslim states. In the case of Iraq, where nowadays only 150,000 Christians live, there is still talk of an Arab Iraq and a Kurdish Iraq. Furthermore, there are large differences between regions with Shia majorities in the south and Sunni majorities in the west of the country. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime by the U.S. invasion in 2003, the so-called "Sunni triangle" bordering Syria and Jordan, has been largely dominated by different Sunni groups, most recently, from 2014 to 2017 by the "Islamic State" (IS). In these "Sunni areas”, except of the governorate/province of Ninawa with its capital Mosul, hardly any Christians lived.

Find the report here.