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TechnoratiFollowing the death of Rahho, Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako – the most senior Catholic cleric in Iraq - warned that Christians in the country face “liquidation” if the Iraqi government and the U.S. military do not step up protection for the country’s religious minorities.
Since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003, more than 200 Christians have been killed, dozens of churches were bombed, and more than half the Iraqi Christian population have left the country, according to Archbishop Sako.
USCIRF hopes that the incoming administration under Barack Obama will ensure “safe and fair provincial elections” and “security and safety for all Iraqis.” It calls on the Obama administration to make prevention of religious abuse a “high priority” and to urge authorities in the Kurdish region to support “minority rights.” USCIRF also wants the U.S. government to address Iraq’s displaced persons and refugee problem.
Christians make up less than three percent of Iraq’s population, but account for nearly half of all refugees leaving the country, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The Iraqi Christian population has plummeted from 1.2 million before 2003, to now less than 600,000.
