The complaint contained in the latest report of Aid to the Church in Need. In the West Bank, the Christian population, which used to make up 18% of the total, dropped to less than 1%. More than 5,000 people have fled in recent months. In Syria, since the start of the war in 2011, Christians have gone from being 10% to less than 2%. The call for “red Wednesday”, on November 23, seeks to raise awareness on the subject.
Baghdad () – The Christian presence in many parts of the Middle East is facing a real “existential threat”: in several countries, communities that were once flourishing have become the shadow of their former self. This is what emerges from the latest Aid to the Church in Need (AIN) report, entitled “Persecuted and forgotten? A report on Christians oppressed for their faith 2020-2022”, which was presented to the public these days. A worrying panorama for Christians, who despite being an original component of the region are at risk of disappearing in many places due to the migratory phenomenon, which the Patriarch himself has defined as a “Exodus” of dramatic proportions.
Pope Francis recently addressed the issue in his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron: the Pontiff invited Paris to assume a greater commitment to preserve this presence, in the face of a migratory phenomenon that has reached alarming levels. It is an exodus that affects most of the countries in the region, although for different reasons: from Islamic fundamentalism to the economic crisis, without forgetting the conflicts. And that one lives in both Iraq and Syria, in Palestine and Lebanon, and from Jordan to the Gulf.
The report shows how, 75 years after the birth of the State of Israel, the number of Christians in the West Bank has plummeted, from 18% to a paltry 1% (or less) of the population The number of Christians who have left in the last 20 months (including Jerusalem) is estimated at more than 5,000, most of them destined for Europe, the United States and Canada. The situation in Syria does not seem to be the best, quite the opposite: since the start of the war in 2011, the presence has been reduced from 10% to less than 2%, endangering its very essence.
“Five years have passed since the military defeat of ISIS – the report explains – and the threat of a large-scale resurgence has by no means died down. A resurgence of the jihadist movement has the potential to deal the final blow to Christianity” in what which was once the heart from which it originated. “This is not only because the number of Christians is now low, but also because their confidence is fragile. They may have gone through times of genocide, but when there is no security the attraction to migration is irreversible for many.” This is “amplified” by a “cultural environment” that continues to be hostile to Christians, treated as “citizens of second class, discriminated against at school and in the workplace, with low wages and unemployment”, which drives them to seek a life “outside their country” of origin.
As for Iraqi Christians, after the rise of the Islamic State, at least 50,000 found refuge in Lebanon. Today there are only a few hundred, and most have decided to leave the Middle East for good to go to North America or Australia.
Even Jordan, which while politically stable and has relatively better security conditions, is no longer a safe haven and is also experiencing increased migration. The same goes for Lebanon.
Just taking the case of the Canadian embassy, in the last 30 months it has received more than 10,000 immigration applications from young people and families, and the drive to flee the Country of Cedars is only comparable to that of the dramatic period of the civil war.
In response, AIN has launched a day of prayer and reflection entitled “Red Wednesday”. On November 23, all churches are invited to pray and light their buildings red in silent protest against the drama of persecution.
