When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Iraq

With The Desperate Christian Refugees Flooding Iraq's Kurdistan

Assyrian Christian families who have fled ISIS and have taken refuge in the Mar Matta Monastery in northern Iraq.
Assyrian Christian families who have fled ISIS and have taken refuge in the Mar Matta Monastery in northern Iraq.
Jacques Follorou

SAJE — Father Kriakosmi, the priest of the village Saje outside Dohuk, doesn't complain about the inconveniences caused by masses of displaced people arriving here. As he undoes the top button of his black shirt, revealing his white collar, it's not a sign of fatigue or defeat, simply a reaction to the suffocating heat in this northern part of Iraqi Kurdistan.

He opened his church and his school to accommodate the Christians, most of them Chaldeans like him, who came from towns and villages conquered by ISIS terror groups south of Dohuk, such as Mosul, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe and Alqosh. "We don't welcome just Christians," he insists. "This morning, 150 Yazidi families settled in the village."

Following Father Kriakosmi's example, local authorities in the autonomous Kurdish region have opened schools and public buildings to the displaced, while others are sheltering under bridges or inside unfinished construction sites. In the Dohuk province alone, there are now more than 400,000 refugees, most of them Christians and Yazidis.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 700,000 people displaced in Iraqi Kurdistan, scattered across hundreds of different sites. The UN, which provides them with aid, is building three extra camps there this week.

In Saje, houses under construction have also been requisitioned to accommodate the newcomers. Four Yazidi families consisting of about 30 people have moved into one of them. A large carpet adorns the entrance to the house, which otherwise consists of just bare concrete walls and a roof.

Desperation for the displaced

Garbage litters the floors, and the deprivation of these farm families from a village near Sinjar is plain to see on the faces of the women and children. The men try to appear strong. But then one of them has to carry his sister, who fainted from the heat and lack of water, to a car that will drive her to a health center.

Father Kriakosmi organizes assistance for these refugees with the help of someone who himself has had to flee his home with his family — Moin Basim Slem Ajaj, a former member of Mosul's council, who is carrying the list of people eligible for food supplies and other products when they arrive.

Ajaj, a former Iraqi army engineer, speaks a little English and is the embodiment of educated Iraqi society. People like he and his wife, a social researcher, are among the country's progressive elite.

He says that day the Islamist militias entered Mosul, the governor had already left with his delegation four or five hours before. "They had left us alone," Ajaj says. "We knew they were close but not that they would be here so quickly." He says that the army defected in two hours, after the first rumors about the Islamists approaching reached Mosul's council. "And the Arab population provided no help whatsoever to the minorities targeted by the Islamists," he adds.

Faced directly with ISIS members, he was forced to hand over his $4,000 life savings and one of his two cars. "Then they hit me and ordered me to leave instantly, to abandon my house. We used to live in 180 square meters. Now there's four of us in ten square meters, but Father Kriakosmi was generous enough to give us shelter."

In Tel Keppe, where they first sought refuge, and in Alqosh, the same scenes were repeating themselves. "At night, young people would run through the streets shouting that Daesh ISIS in Arabic was coming, and so each time we had to flee, with women and children, leaving what little things we had behind," Ajaj explains. Before they left Mosul, ISIS members offered him a deal. "I could stay if I converted or if I paid. At the end of the day, even if Christians wanted to pay, they couldn't go on living in Mosul."

Installed in Saje for now and with no idea how long they will stay, Christian refugees try to live one day at a time. "We don't understand anything about this war," says Murad, a large man. "We could be forced to flee again if Daesh keeps gaining ground. They're very close, and all they want is to wipe us off the map."

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

A First Look At Russia's Ukraine War Veterans, Struggling Back On The Homefront

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have taken part in the war. On returning, many face difficulties to return to normal life and finding work, as independent Russian news outlet Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories reports.

Image of a Man waiting in line at Military Employment Office of the Russian Armed Forces​

Man waiting in line at an employment office in Moscow

РЕДАКЦИЯ

MOSCOW — Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russians have taken part in the war. They range from professional soldiers, National Guardsmen, reservists and conscripts to mercenaries of illegal armed groups, including former prisoners.

The exact number of those who survived and returned home is unknown. In the past year alone, about 50,000 citizens received the status “combat veteran”. The actual number of returnees from the front is far higher, but it is often extremely difficult to obtain veteran status and veteran benefits.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest