Erbil Churches Overwhelmed by New Influx of Refugees

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - “We need help fast, otherwise our houses will all be looted and emptied,” says John, one of the Iraqi Christians who fled recently to the Kurdistan capital of Erbil for fear of the radical Muslim group Islamic State (IS/ISIS).

The Church of Saint Joseph in Erbil’s Christian Ainkawa district is bursting at the seams, after over 100,000 people fled Christian towns and villages between Erbil and the IS stronghold of  Mosul. Many of them came to Ainkawa, finding refuge in overcrowded churches, sports facilities and schools.

On the grounds of St. Joseph, men, women and children are clinging to the shade in temperatures of over 40 degrees centigrade. Water bottles are being cooled in a children’s swimming pool filled with ice. Mattresses lie everywhere; many people sleep at night on the grass outside the church.

For many, it’s the second time they make the trip to the safety of Erbil. Last month, fighting between the Kurdish Peshmerga and IS also generated an influx, then mainly from the main Christians town of Qaraqosh. Last week, reports alone that the Peshmerga were retreating from the checkpoints protecting the town and surroundings were enough to empty the area within a day.

Last month, people returned home when they heard that the Peshmerga were guaranteeing their safety. This time, most say they have lost their trust in a positive outcome, adding with the same breath that now they are intent on emigrating.

The Christians fear IS, after their brethren in Mosul were told to convert to Islam or be killed. When Christians left the city, they were robbed clean of money, gold, phones and even cars at the checkpoint. The refugees worry about the stories of women being abducted as jihadi brides and men being killed by IS, especially after reports that these are the calamities that befell Kurdish Yezidis at the hands of the religious zealots.

“Even if the situation improves we do not want to go back,” said Fadel Yusef, who fled with his wife and children to Erbil, and was under medication for stress by volunteers at the church.

“Muslims hate Christians,” he said. “They have the right to kill us; for them, as Christians we don’t have any rights.”

Not everyone agrees. “It is too hard to stay here,” a woman said. Another man added that everyone is eager to return home. “But we cannot, as IS is there. We are asking the authorities to help make it possible.”

They are happy with the military support the United States is offering by bombing IS positions, but worry about what the bombs will do to the homes left behind – or their other possessions.

According to reports from the few who stayed put, the black IS flag is now flying on a number of locations. People said there had been no large influx of IS fighters, and that the looting of shops and homes was done mostly by Arabs from neighboring villages.

Inside the cool of the church an old woman lay rolled into a ball on a thin mattress, with only some of her grey hair showing over the top of the blanket. She did not even wake up when a group of desperate men and women crowded around a seminary student who volunteered to help solve minor problems.

The student, Martin, called on foreign countries for help because the churches cannot handle the huge influx. “This cannot last too long,” he said, motioning at the crowded church.

Apart from UN organizations that came to take a look, no other aid group has been spotted. 

The churches are also stretched to the limit, as Iraqi Kurdistan is housing over a million refugees and internally displaced people from Syria, the rest of Iraq and now thousands of minorities from areas where IS has gained ground.

Last month the community in Ainkawa set up emergency camps, but they have been closed since. Those refugees who stayed in Ainkawa then, often had to make do with one room for the whole family. Now refugees are again searching, and often have to share with others. Some houses contain as many as seven families.

Many people are penniless; those who fled from Mosul before lost everything to IS, and those who claim a government salary cannot get to the money as IS controls the banks.

“I don’t have anything or anyone,” said a lone woman at the church. “First I fled from (the Iraqi city of) Basra to Mosul, then to Qaraqosh and now I am here. I have a brother in Australia. I think that’s where I will go now.”

The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis is sending Cardinal Fernando Filoni to Iraq to show “spiritual support and the church’s solidarity with the people who are suffering.”