Militia drive Iraqi Christians out from their homes, seize property

Iran-backed militia have taken control of Christian houses, whilst seizing property belonging to churches in Baghdad.

According to the Assyrian International News Agency, militia targeted the residences of Christians forcing them out of their home. Members of the Iraqi Parliament said that these families have been forced to look for other locations to resettle, and even forfeit all of their belongings.

Christian community leaders, representing Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac minorities, condemned the actions of the group, referring to the move as 'ethnic cleansing' of Christians from Iraq's capital city.

In another report by Al Hayat, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sacco said in an inteview that the militia believed Christian properties in Baghdad are 'halal', which means they can be seized.

The Christian leaders reported that the militia have chosen the upscale portion of the city, where its citizens have their own decent homes and land. The men reportedly brought falsified documents and forced their way into the properties.

"We are begging, once again, appealing to the conscience of government officials and authorities from Sunni and Shiite states in order to do something meaningful to safeguard the life and dignity and property of all Iraqis, because they are human," Sacco said in the interview.

The Iraqi Christians in Baghdad are among the world's oldest Christian communities. They have built up several villages within the country's capital city, such as Basra, Erbil and Kirkuk.

Dr. Walid Phares, a U.S. Congress advisor, requested aid from the United States to establish an autonomous area for the different Christian minority groups in the country. He also said that the U.S. should instruct Iraqi militia to protect the Christian homes until the families have returned.