NINEWA: LOCAL CHRISTIAN OFFICIALS CLAIM INTERNALLY DISPLACED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000056

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/31/2016
TAGS: PREL PINS PINT PGOV PHUM IZ MARR
SUBJECT: NINEWA: LOCAL CHRISTIAN OFFICIALS CLAIM INTERNALLY DISPLACED
PERSONS GROWING IN NUMBER

REF: A) MOSUL 48; B) 2005 MOSUL 149

MOSUL 00000056 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Cameron Munter, PRT Leader, Provincial
Reconstruction Team Ninewa, State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d)



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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Local religious and political officials report that the
number of internally displaced Christians fleeing Baghdad and
Mosul to eastern Ninewa is growing. Father Aimen of St.
George's Catholic Church in Bartallah claims around 3,000
displaced persons are already residing in Al Hamdiniya District,
with many more expected as the Iraqi school year ends on June 8.
Aimen says the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been
providing monetary assistance to the displaced through local
churches. Plans to construct housing for Christian IDPs in
Bartallah are almost complete, he says, but potential builders
are seeking additional funding from the GOI, USG, and the
international community. Aimen believes if something is not
done soon to address the situation the number of displaced
persons will become a heavy burden on already strained residents
of Ninewa's Christian community. End Summary.


2. (SBU) PRT met with Father Aimen Paulus (known as "Father
Aimen"),Rector of St. George's Assyrian Catholic Church and
George Kako, parishioner and businessman in Bartallah on May 27.


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DISPLACED CHRISTIANS: NUMBER GROWING
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3. (C) Local religious officials reported the number of
internally displaced Christians in the area of Ninewa Plains
(eastern Ninewa) was growing (ref a). Father Aimen and George
Kako alleged there were approximately 550 Christian IDP families
in northern Iraq with more arriving every week. Aimen estimated
there was between 2,500 and 3,000 people affected by the
displacement as a result of sectarian violence in Baghdad and
Mosul. He believed as the Iraqi school year ended the week of
June 8 more Christians would seek refuge in Ninewa Plains.
Aimen said IDPs reported receiving threat letters advising their
departure from Muslim neighborhoods immediately following the
close of the school year. However, Aimen did not have copies of
the letters. Aimen claimed that neither the provincial nor
central government in Baghdad had engaged on the issue, although
he admitted he had not directly petitioned either for help. He
believed such requests would be fruitless. Aimen said neither
the USG nor UNAMI had helped, even though a UNAMI delegation
visited the area recently and spoke to several refugees.
Rather, help had only come in the form of monetary donations
from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),and directly from
the KRG Minister of Finance Serkese Aghjian, a Christian Kurd.
Aimen said he was also disappointed by the media's lack of
interest in the issue.


4. (C) Zuher Yousef of Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union claimed
Christians fleeing Baghdad to Bartallah and Qaraqosh were mostly
from the neighborhoods of Dora, Ghadeer, Mahdee, and
Baghdad-Jideeda. Edmon Youkhana of Assyrian Democratic Movement
(ADM) said on a recent visit to Dora neighborhood he personally
witnessed the bad living conditions there. He claimed Dora went
"dead" after three in the afternoon, with businesses closed and
little or no pedestrian traffic. About eight Christians were
murdered there daily, he said. In Mosul Christians were fleeing
the neighborhoods of Nabi Younis, said Youkhana, and in the past
four months about 60 families had left Mosul for Iraqi
Kurdistan. He said ADM was conducting a survey on the issue and
would provide the PRT with its findings soon. Shimael Zayya of
the Assyrian Patriotic Party said providing shelter to Christian
IDPs in Ninewa Plain and Iraqi Kurdistan was becoming a burden.
He said the Christian religious community and the KRG were
helping provide assistance, such as shelter and donations.

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ONE FAMILY'S EXPERIENCE
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5. (C) PRT spoke to a displaced family from Baghdad that was
now living with relatives in Bartallah. Sha'mon Georgis Isaac
and his wife Mo'aziz Aziz Naser and their eight children and one
seriously ill granddaughter left their home and business in Dora

MOSUL 00000056 002.2 OF 002


after receiving a direct threat from masked gunmen as well as a
letter telling them to leave immediately, they said. Over the
past 18 months they lost three family members, they claimed,
including two sons-in-law. The family of 11 has been residing
in two small rooms and relying on the goodwill of friends and
neighbors for help. Since Isaac and his family were not from
Bartallah they were unable to participate in the food ration
system, he said. Aimen claimed the KRG was giving Christian
IDPs in Ninewa between 75,000 and 150,000 (50 to 100 USD) Iraqi
Dinars monthly. Isaac and Naser, whose house in Baghdad was
adjacent to a Sunni mosque, confirmed previous reports of imams
advising Muslims not to buy property from Christians but to wait
until Christians fled so the property could be obtained for
free. Naser said the family at first stayed with friends in
another neighborhood in Baghdad for two months before seeking
safety in Ninewa on April 14. Naser said the family was too
afraid to return to Baghdad and would like to stay in Bartallah
if they could find jobs to support themselves.

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PROPOSED HOUSING FACILITIES
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6. (C) Meeting the anticipated needs of future additional IDPs
Aimen and Kako prepared a proposal for the construction of a
housing complex for 200 to 250 IDP families. Kako and St.
George's parish would provide the land for the complexes, he
said, but they were hoping for funding from the USG and
international NGO community. So far, only the KRG had offered
initial support to get the project moving. The housing would
only be for Christian IDPs, according to Aimen, even though
large numbers of Shabek Shia IDPs were coming to Ninewa from
Mosul as well. Kako and Aimen believed the Shia community
should address the needs of their own people, however, rather
than having a unified IDP assistance program for the area, they
said. This was particularly important since Christians and Shia
would be unable to live together peacefully in the same
compound, claimed Aimen.

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COMMENT
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7. (C) These accounts of Christian IDPs in Ninewa pale in
comparison to recent statistics of Arab IDPs around the country.
Yet these accounts are troubling. That the KRG, through MOF
Aghjian, is providing monetary support to the families and has
plans to partially fund any housing tenements for Christian IDPs
can be read from many angles: altruistically, it certainly
indicates the goodwill of the KRG towards its minority
neighbors. Unfortunately, KRG aid, especially from a disputed
official such as Aghjian who has been accused by ADM and other
political groups of "buying off" Christian religious officials
in Ninewa (ref b),might raise flags of potential Kurdish
encroachment in minority villages. Kako, a leading businessman
who has done well on contracts from Coalition Forces and the
USG, has his proposal completed and is ready to construct
housing for the IDPs on his property. His willingness to do so
is as much a reflection of his general thoughtfulness for the
displaced (he has been recognized as being extraordinarily
generous to charities in Ninewa Plains),or as a potential
profiteer of an unfortunate series of events. Whatever the
motives of Kako, or the KRG, the fact remains: Christians in
eastern Ninewa are beginning to feel the impact of violence to
the south.
MUNTER