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'We Would Be Lost Without Our Fellow Christians in the West' -- Say Iraq's Assyrians
By Murcadha O Flaherty
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Christians in the west, especially here in the UK, have played a crucial role in reviving communities in Iraq ravaged by extremists -- according to a Church leader who has helped pioneer their resettlement in towns and villages which have been their home for thousands of years. With latest reports stating that about half of the inhabitants have returned to the Christian-majority town of Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Father George Jahola said "a lot of people are now returning there from Lebanon and Turkey as well as from Erbil and other displacement centres in Iraq."

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The Syriac Catholic priest, who has led the resettlement of more than 25,000 Christians back to Qaraqosh, said the support by Christians in the West for a massive house-repair project in Nineveh had been vital to the survival of the community. ACN is one of the organisations funding this house rebuilding and repairing scheme. Speaking to ACN Father Jahola said: "If it weren't for the houses, there would already be no one left." With 2,187 of the 6,826 damaged houses in Qaraqosh now repaired, Father Jahola said: "We would be lost without our fellow Christians in the West." Since Daesh (ISIS) was forced out of Nineveh around eighteen months ago, more than 8,700 families have returned to Nineveh, according to ACN's latest figures, with 4,300 houses now made habitable again in Christian towns and villages across the region. Father Jahola said that, while security and jobs were vital for people looking to return to Nineveh, the importance of the house-repairs was critical. Stressing the community's dependence on aid from Christian organisations, he said: "The [Iraqi] government has no money and other priorities. No one shows their face here."



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