Ancient Assyrian Christian Community in Middle East ‘Doesn’t Have a Chance of Survival’

A religious freedom activist warns that the Assyrian Christian community in the Middle East “does not have a chance of survival” and offered sharp words of criticism at the sixth annual International Religious Freedom Summit, saying “the West has repeatedly failed Assyrian Christians.”

During a Monday panel discussion titled “Voices from Underreported Religious Communities Caught Amid Conflict,” experts discussed the dire state of religious freedom in several countries and pleaded for help from the United States, Western countries and supranational organizations like the United Nations.

Karmella Borashan of the Assyrian International Council spoke about the plight of Assyrian Christians, which she noted dates back to the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the subsequent Syrian Civil War.

“Ever since, Assyrians faced systematic, subtle persecution from both the Jihadists and Kurdish forces, each using different tactics, and in Syria, lack of security and economic collapse specifically affects all Syrians, specifically Assyrian Christians as minorities,” Borashan said. “Many villages that once were very thriving, they remain largely empty.”

“In Iraq, they face violent attack by Islamist extremists,” she added. “Assyrian archeological sites more than 3000 years [old] are being vandalized.” (Read more from “Assyrian Community in Middle East ‘Doesn’t Have a Chance of Survival’” HERE)