Posted on 01/21/2007 3:41:32 PM PST by TexKat
ARBIL, Iraq, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A Christian shopkeeper who walks with a limp, Adison Brikha fled Baghdad after he was beaten in his shop. He made it to Arbil, in relatively peaceful Iraqi Kurdistan -- but now he's begging for work.
"The gunmen broke into my shop in New Baghdad district and beat me brutally. It was obvious that Christians are no longer wanted in Baghdad," said Brikha, who can barely pay the rent for a tiny house in Arbil for his family of five.
"I used to own a shop and now I'm begging people to let me work even as a servant or a labourer, but no one will take me because my foot is crippled," he said, through tears.
Tens of thousands of people have fled Baghdad, the epicentre of violence in Iraq. The United Nations, launching an appeal for aid for Iraqis who have fled their homes or left the country, said this month about one in eight Iraqis is now displaced.
It said the exodus is the largest long-term movement of people in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Many, including non-Kurds, have taken refuge in Kurdistan -- a largely autonomous region in the northern mountains that has been a haven from attacks plaguing other areas since the U.S. invasion of 2003.
But as refugee numbers grow, authorities in Arbil, the Kurdish capital with a population of about a million, are beginning to feel the strain.
"Over the last two weeks, more than 9,000 people came to Arbil escaping from Baghdad as refugees, and they are mainly Sunnis and Christians," Imad Marouf, head of the disaster relief program in Arbil, part of the Iraqi Red Crescent, told Reuters.
HALF A MILLION IRAQIS FLEE
The U.N. says nearly 500,000 people fled to other areas within Iraq last year, mostly since the February bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra prompted a surge in violence.
While much of the violence is between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, others have been caught up in it.
In a human rights report on Jan. 16, the United Nations said that of the 1.5 million Assyrian Christians living in Iraq before 2003, half had fled the country and many of the rest were moving to "safe areas" in the north of Iraq.
The main Chaldean Christian college and seminary in Baghdad -- closed for months due to threats and violence -- relocated to Arbil this month, according to Bishop Rabban al-Qas of Arbil. Both Christians and Muslims were targets of violence.
"The continuous deterioration of security in Baghdad and the kidnapping of six priests by gunmen forced us to move the these Christian institutes to Arbil," he told Reuters.
"The students ... could not attend classes because of the lack of security which made us move to Arbil," he said.
Marouf said his office had registered more than 5,000 families -- or around 30,000 people -- who fled to Arbil over the last two years.
BRAIN DRAIN
He said hundreds more families -- particularly of doctors, professors and businessmen -- had not registered as refugees and declined handouts because they had found jobs in Arbil.
Deputy provincial governor Tahir Abdullah said resources were lacking to help so many refugees, but that authorities were trying at least to provide logistical help, such as transferring ration cards so families can still get subsidised food.
"We have urged the U.N. bodies in the north to help the refugees and build a camp for those who can't afford to pay to rent a house. Some families are staying out in the open," Abdullah told Reuters.
Marouf said he had heard of an extended family of 49 people living squeezed into a single residence of 100 square metres (1,000 sq.ft.): "They couldn't find a better place to live."
Concerned by the flood of refugees, Kurdish authorities have imposed new restrictions on who can settle in the area, for instance requiring a Kurdish sponsor for each family.
"The bombing of the Shi'ite shrine in Samarra caused thousands of families to flee and head to the Kurdish areas," said Yazgar Raouf, head of the residency office in Arbil, adding that the influx had raised security concerns.
"We started to impose new regulations relating to immigrants since September 2004 to secure the Kurdish region from any terrorist infiltration, which could destabilise security."
Jan 21 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1030 GMT on Sunday:
* indicates new or updated item
* DIBIS - Gunmen attacked guards protecting oil facilities, seized their weapons and vehicles and set an oil well on fire in the town of Dibis, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Kirkuk, police said.
* BAGHDAD - Iraqi army troops killed nine insurgents and arrested 85 during the last 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.
* MADAEN - Militias kidnapped and killed an employee of the Sunni Endowment, a body responsible for Sunni mosques in Iraq, and six of his friends in the town of Madaen in the south eastern outskirts of Baghdad, Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarai, the head of the Sunni Endowment, said.
* FALLUJA - Gunmen attacked a police patrol and killed two policemen in a drive-by shooting in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
BASRA - A roadside bomb killed a British soldier and wounded four north of Basra in southern Iraq, the British military said. One of the wounded was in serious condition.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb near Beirut Square in eastern Baghdad killed one civilian and wounded five, police said.
BAGHDAD - A bomb killed at least six people and wounded 15 when it destroyed a minibus in Karrada, in central Baghdad, police said. It was not clear how many people were on board the bus, which was gutted and burned fiercely.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=KAM340982
Ok!
‘Serious’ threats made against 31 churches in Indonesia[Catholics and Protestants
Saudi Arabia arrests Eastern-rite Catholic priest for celebrating Mass
Catholic Priest Arrested and Expelled from Riyadh
Ramallah: Islamic violence targets Christians
Moslem Terror Chasing Out 1,000 Christian Arabs a Year
INDIA: VIOLENCE SCARS EASTER WEEK (Pastors beaten, churches vandalized by Hindu extremists)
GFA Urges Prayer as Hindu Extremists Intensify Anti-Christian Persecution
Persecution of Catholics still alive, oppression’s face fanatic, traditional
The community of Arab Christians is dwindling in the Holy Land
Christian martyr in 'European' Turkey
(Irish) Teen Killed Just for Being Catholic, Says Priest
Vatican Unease Over Islamic Countries
Priest stabbed in Turkey in third recent assault against Catholic clergy
Mother Teresa’s Sisters Are Hostage to Fanatic Hinduists
Discriminating Against Religion
India's bishops condemn deadly blasts in Mumbai
Priest abducted in Baghdad threatened and tortured
Salesian Priest, 70, Stabbed in Germany (by a Turk)
Muslim Militants Attack Catholic School in Kashmir
Murdered Nun Asked Forgivness for (Ismaofacist Scum) Killers As She Lay Dying
Three men sentenced to death denied last Sacraments in Indonesia
Indonesia Executes 3 Catholics Over Muslim Deaths
Indonesia Government Executes Christians: Firing Squad
Radical Muslims attack two churches Iraq: demand catholics post condemnation of pope's words
Boy slave 'crucified' by Sudanese Muslim
'In 20 years, there will be no more Christians in Iraq'
Militants Kill Missionary Couple's 2 Children Who Refused To Convert To Islam
Armed Greek Police plan to forcibly remove monks
Ex-Muslims arrested in Iran (Christians arrested for performing XMAS activities)
Iraqi Christians Lose All Hope with Violence, Anarchy
What does this mean for Iraq?
We could end this thing tomorrow. Give the Kurds kurdistan. Give the Iranian friendly portion to Iran. Give the rest to Syria.
That would work very well for the most part. There are a few areas such a baghdad where the loyalties are mixes, but that is ok. The Syrians don't tolerate rebellion, and, when they are not tolerating rebeliion, they generally don't exterminate people either. Yes, the Syrians and Iranians are allied now.. but they won't be when they share a common border.
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