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SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED BY THE WAR
2-8-2013 0:14:51
Assyrian International News Agency
Stockholm (AINA) -- Five years after writing his report By God -
Six Days in Amman, his personal report that changed the perception
of the war in Iraq, Nuri Kino is back with a new one. This time it's
the war in Syria and its consequences he wants to highlight.
Nuri Kino, award winning Swedish-Assyrian author and investigative
journalist, has met and interviewed nearly one hundred Christian
Syrian refugees. In his personal report he gives voice to this
otherwise silent minority. He is told harrowing tales of systematic
rape and kidnappings. Many, perhaps most of the refugees interviewed
express a desire to leave the Middle East for good and have contacted
human smugglers. A multi-million enterprise has sprung up around the
refugee crisis. Kino has also spoken to several of these smugglers and
investigated the trade. His first-hand report includes an interview
with a young man who reached Sweden after a hellish journey from
Syria. "Jacob" was forced into a sealed container and almost died of
suffocation. Only a few days after leaving the container he and some
seventy other men were forced onto a ship, where only half of them
survived the journey. Nuri Kino says this about his report:
We meet every day by news reports from Syria that evokes strong
emotions. But what do we really know about what is going on there? One
element can get a sense of a TV channel and another in another
TV channel. It is therefore important that the Syrians themselves,
witnesses of atrocities, can be heard. I could write short articles but
these are forgotten after just one day, that's why I decided to write
a longer report. I waited for the right time and when a Syriac Orthodox
youth organization would go to Beirut, it felt right to go with.
The war in Syria is growing increasingly worse every day, and it is
affecting every Syrian citizen, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
But the situation for minorites is even more horrifying. The Christian
minority in Syria has no militia and is targeted by everyone.
Christian Assyrians (also called Chaldeans and Syriacs) and others
have become the number one target for criminals and terrorists.
Between The Barbed Wire gives a voice to this people and is a must-read
for anyone who is involved or interested in issues of migration and
international politics.
The personal report compares the exodus of the Christians from Syria
with that from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The current
similarities with the situation in Iraq are alarming. At the peak of
the sectarian conflict in Iraq, Christian were killed, some beheaded
in front of video cameras by extremists and driven from their homes
and businesses, targeted by religious intolerance and the prospect
of economic gain. Meanwhile more than half of the Iraqi Christians
have been forced to leave the country.
This is now being repeated in Syria.
Even though Christians make up more than 10 percent of Syria's
population, this amount is not reflected in the UNCHR registred
refugees numbers who fled to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The mostly
ignored tragedy of the Christians in Iraq has convinced Christians of
Syria that international authorities will not step up to protect them.
While their plight is well known to the western media outlets they
still are forgotten by international aid organizations. They are
fleeing massively.
Nuri Kino's comprehensive 40-page report is available here:
http://www.betweenthebarbedwire.com/
By Tuma Abraham This item is available as: html | pdf
2-8-2013 0:14:51
Assyrian International News Agency
Stockholm (AINA) -- Five years after writing his report By God -
Six Days in Amman, his personal report that changed the perception
of the war in Iraq, Nuri Kino is back with a new one. This time it's
the war in Syria and its consequences he wants to highlight.
Nuri Kino, award winning Swedish-Assyrian author and investigative
journalist, has met and interviewed nearly one hundred Christian
Syrian refugees. In his personal report he gives voice to this
otherwise silent minority. He is told harrowing tales of systematic
rape and kidnappings. Many, perhaps most of the refugees interviewed
express a desire to leave the Middle East for good and have contacted
human smugglers. A multi-million enterprise has sprung up around the
refugee crisis. Kino has also spoken to several of these smugglers and
investigated the trade. His first-hand report includes an interview
with a young man who reached Sweden after a hellish journey from
Syria. "Jacob" was forced into a sealed container and almost died of
suffocation. Only a few days after leaving the container he and some
seventy other men were forced onto a ship, where only half of them
survived the journey. Nuri Kino says this about his report:
We meet every day by news reports from Syria that evokes strong
emotions. But what do we really know about what is going on there? One
element can get a sense of a TV channel and another in another
TV channel. It is therefore important that the Syrians themselves,
witnesses of atrocities, can be heard. I could write short articles but
these are forgotten after just one day, that's why I decided to write
a longer report. I waited for the right time and when a Syriac Orthodox
youth organization would go to Beirut, it felt right to go with.
The war in Syria is growing increasingly worse every day, and it is
affecting every Syrian citizen, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
But the situation for minorites is even more horrifying. The Christian
minority in Syria has no militia and is targeted by everyone.
Christian Assyrians (also called Chaldeans and Syriacs) and others
have become the number one target for criminals and terrorists.
Between The Barbed Wire gives a voice to this people and is a must-read
for anyone who is involved or interested in issues of migration and
international politics.
The personal report compares the exodus of the Christians from Syria
with that from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The current
similarities with the situation in Iraq are alarming. At the peak of
the sectarian conflict in Iraq, Christian were killed, some beheaded
in front of video cameras by extremists and driven from their homes
and businesses, targeted by religious intolerance and the prospect
of economic gain. Meanwhile more than half of the Iraqi Christians
have been forced to leave the country.
This is now being repeated in Syria.
Even though Christians make up more than 10 percent of Syria's
population, this amount is not reflected in the UNCHR registred
refugees numbers who fled to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The mostly
ignored tragedy of the Christians in Iraq has convinced Christians of
Syria that international authorities will not step up to protect them.
While their plight is well known to the western media outlets they
still are forgotten by international aid organizations. They are
fleeing massively.
Nuri Kino's comprehensive 40-page report is available here:
http://www.betweenthebarbedwire.com/
By Tuma Abraham This item is available as: html | pdf