Christians are being ignored in Iraq's reconstruction efforts, charities warn

A coalition of UK-based charities has warned that Christians are being excluded from reconstruction plans for northern Iraq, further diminishing the likelihood of their return once ISIS is defeated in the region.

The coalition, composed of 16 nongovernmental organizations, have produced an 88-page report highlighting how leaders of religious minorities are being excluded from the National Settlement plan being drawn up by Iraq and other regional powers and presented to the U.N.

The report added that the political and security concerns of Christians and other minorities must be addressed so that they will be convinced to return to Mosul or the surrounding Nineveh Plains to rebuild their communities.

The charities that contributed to the report include Aid to the Church in Need, the Assyrian Church of the East Relief Fund, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Syrian Christians for Peace, the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church in Lebanon and the Alliance Church of Jordan, World Watch Monitor reported.

The report noted that Christians are not getting the support they need from international donor institutions, such as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They have to rely instead on churches that are running their own aid programs with limited funds.

"All the NGOs involved in this report state that the vast majority of Christians and other 'minorities' avoid UNHCR camps and facilities because of continuing discrimination and persecution," the report stated.

"It is utterly unacceptable that a place of sanctuary should be a place of fear that repels those it is designed to save and protect," it continued.

The report added that those remain outside UNHCR camps "have fared ... unequally in the allocation of international aid, funding, political support, media attention, and asylum placements."

It calls on UNHCR to abandon its "need not creed approach" and acknowledge the experiences of minorities in its camps. It also urges the organization to add more non-Muslim registration, security staff and translators in its facilities to reduce discrimination against minorities.

Last month the Iraqi parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri announced that the Sunni blocs in the parliament have prepared a version of the national settlement.

Yonadam Kanna, the secretary-general of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and a member of the Iraqi parliament, objected to the settlement document because it did not include any clause determining the fate of disputed minority areas disputed by the Kurds and Arabs. These areas include the Nineveh Plains for the Christians and Shabaks, Tal Afar for the Turkmens and Sinjar for the Yazidis.

"Minorities do not have a say in this and they are not even allowed to determine their own fate. The settlement does not take into account the views of Christians or Yazidis or any other less influential minority groups," he said.

Kanna has previously criticized national reconciliation projects prepared by larger political groups for failing to provide guarantees that those who have committed atrocities against religious minorities would be brought to justice.