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This letter has been signed
a few days ago by 11 organizations.
Appeal for a ChaldoAssyrian
Safe Haven in Iraq
The escalating attacks
and violence against ChaldoAssyrian Christians (also known as
Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs) in Iraq have led to a general
sense of terror within the community. The systematic and sophisticated
Church bombings of August 1, October 16, and November 8 have
been supplemented by nearly daily reports of abductions, beheadings,
burnings, and killings of innocent ChaldoAssyrian civilians.
An ever increasing number of ChaldoAssyrians have been targeted
and killed in the past 2 months alone.
Other forms of pressure
and threats include pressure to sell lands, the coercion of woman
to wear veils, and the abduction of women for marriage against
their will. The continuing onslaught against the vulnerable ChaldoAssyrian
civilian population is perpetrated with the specific intent of
terrorizing the indigenous Christian population into leaving
their homes.
We, the under-signed, hereby
recommend that the Iraqi government and international community
urgently:
-assist ChaldoAssyrians
in providing security for all ChaldoAssyrian churches, institutions,
towns, and villages throughout Iraq
-establish an interim Safe
Haven in the Nineveh Plain to be maintained and enforced by ChaldoAssyrians
in order to protect and preserve the historic lands of the ChaldoAssyrian
people and to serve as a sanctuary for threatened and internally
displaced
ChaldoAssyrians
-implement Article 53 d
of the Transitional administrative Law (TAL) and establish an
administrative area for ChaldoAssyrians in the Nineveh Plain
Following the first Gulf
War, the international community established a Safe Haven in
northern Iraq to protect civilians from attacks by the regime
of Saddam Hussein. Today, the attacks against ChaldoAssyrians
are even more ominous and threatening. With reports of tens of
thousands of ChaldoAssyrians leaving Iraq, there now exists the
real possibility of the extinction of the indigenous ChaldoAssyrian
people in Iraq for the first time in their 6700 year continuous
existence. The final litmus test for the Iraqi government's and
the international community's genuine commitment to pluralism
and democracy remains the preservation of the indigenous ChaldoAssyrian
people of Iraq.
Assyrian Democratic Organization
- Europe - Sweden - USA & Canada
Assyrian Institute - Europe
Assyrian Federation - Europe
Tur Abdin Federation - Holland
Assyrian Academic Society
World Maronite Union USA
American Maronite Union USA
World Lebanese Organization (WLO) Canada
The American Coptic Association USA
The Middle East Christian Committee USA
US Copts
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