Iraqi government discouraging Christian emigration
July 01, 2010
The Iraqi government is asking Western governments not to grant asylum to Christians seeking to leave the country. While the government hopes to discourage emigration in order to “preserve the ethnic and religious diversity of the country,” Church leaders argue that the government could better serve that policy by providing security for the Christian minority.
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk has encouraged Christians to remain in Iraq to “witness their faith to the country.” However he added that the threats of violence against Christians—aggravated by divisions among the country’s Christian groups—inhibit efforts to strengthen the status of the religious minority.
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