Will a New U.S. President Help Persecuted Christians?

There was a palpable air of tension in the streets of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, when I visited three weeks ago.

Ever since more than 120,000 Christians were driven out of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain in the summer of 2014, I have been to Erbil several times, trying to aid the persecuted and advocate for their needs in the United States. With ISIS less than 50 kilometers from Erbil, a sense of tension is always there, even though — since ISIS was driven back in 2104 — the Kurdish capital has been relatively safe.

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The reason for the increased tension this time was clear: It’s the imminent battle to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. I saw many more soldiers of the famous Peshmerga on the streets of Erbil. There has been much talk of the liberation of Mosul over the last year, but with the continued dysfunction of the central government in Baghdad and increasing tension between the different Shia and Sunni militias — and the confusion of U.S. foreign policy — it has been just that: talk.

Perhaps most importantly, there was also no plan in place for what happens after the liberation of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain. Experts on the ground told me the lack of a post-liberation plan — for everything from the refugee crisis, housing, governance, re-building — was the principal reason for the long delay in attacking the city.

Add to that the question of who will actually attack the city and who will then be in charge — Baghdad, the Kurdish regional government, Shia militias, even some Turkish presence — and it was probably not surprising that the much-vaunted “liberation” of Mosul has moved from spring to summer to Iraqi autumn.

The defeat of the ISIS savages who drove out Christians with the option of “convert or die” may be the death knell of Christianity in Iraq.

Critically, however, there is still no detailed plan for a post-ISIS Mosul and Nineveh Plain. It seems as if the multiple forces involved have just decided to go in — and plan afterward. Haven’t we been in that place before? Speaking just weeks ago to Kurdish television, Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said the United Nations is “not ready” for the possible 1 million refugees likely to flee the brutal battle for Mosul.

Already, many thousands of mainly Sunni refugees are in the desert area close to Mosul in terrible conditions. A humanitarian worker I was with had visited one of the makeshift camps and described the conditions as “horrific.”

The battle will be hard and damaging. Looking at some of the other towns or cities recaptured from ISIS, there will be very few buildings standing. But there’s a paradox for the thousands of Christians who have lived in Mosul, where Jonah the prophet preached. This is true, too, for the ancient Christian towns of Nineveh almost since the time of Christ — hundreds of years before the religion of Mohammed ever appeared. The defeat of the ISIS savages who drove out Christians with the option of “convert or die” may also be the death knell of Christianity in Iraq.

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One of the reasons for my recent visit was to listen to the voices of those men and women driven out by ISIS. They are languishing in camps and temporary accommodation in Erbil, denied the possibility of emigration by much of the West. Yet President Obama rushes to welcome thousands of mainly Sunni Muslim refugees. What do they think will happen when Mosul is liberated?

Firstly, many of the estimated 1 million Sunni refugees will pour into the empty Christian towns and villages — and never leave. How, many said, could they live with neighbors who betrayed them, stole their houses and property, and sided with ISIS? One priest from Mosul told me his own house had been taken by his neighbors — and that his 800-year-old church was being used as an ISIS torture center.

“It is impossible,” he said, “for us to live with them.”

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Some have a forlorn hope that the Nineveh Plain will be declared a “special zone,” or a governorate for Christians and other religious minorities — already rejected by the Baghdad government. Yet who would protect them? They all (literally everyone I met) expressed some hope that the new U.S. president who is elected on Nov. 8 would do something to help the persecuted Christians.

Otherwise the defeat of ISIS in Nineveh will mean the death of Christianity in Iraq — and they are not pinning their hopes on the Democrats.

Fr. Benedict Kiely is a Catholic priest and founder of Nasarean.org, which is helping the persecuted Christians of the Middle East.