Today’s Martyrs

Resources for understanding current Christian witness and martyrdom

Iraq

Abdel (as of March 29, 2015 plans to move his family of five from Malabrwan to Jordan for Easter, and from there to Australia)

Abu Aasi (reported on December 14, 2014 that Christians are being held and tortured by ISIL [Islamic State] fighters in occupied churches in Mosul;

added "These two churches [Bahnam Wa Sara and Al Kiama] are being used as prisons and for torture. Most inside are Christians and they are being forced to convert to Islam. ISIL has been breaking all the crosses and statues of Mary")

Abu Fadi (aged 51, Zayuna refugee camp worker in Bagdad as of December 25, 2015)

Abu Mustafa (aged 50, wife killed, three daughters have cerebral atrophy, converted to Christianity on or before September 5, 2014 while in a refugee camp)

Abu Nabil (family displaced from Najaf on or before November 22, 2014)

Abu Maryam (home in Qaraqosh looted, on or before November 29, 2016 described his feelings as "rage" after returning to his home following the expulsion of ISIL)

Abu Warda (food preparation business in Karrada, Bagdad car-bombed on June 24, 2013, two employees killed)

Abu Zeid (engineer, fled Mosul for Alqosh, said on June 15, 2014 "Every Christian prefers to stay in Kurdistan. It's a shame because Mosul is the most important city in Iraq for Christians", said only 2000 Christians remain in the city, returned briefly two days earlier to see if his house still stood and was greeted by ISIL militants who welcomed him and made an example of thieves who had plundered the cathedral, but said he doubts their goodwill)

Abuna Mazen – see Fr Mazen Ishoa

Adel Matti (husband of Fida Boutros Matti, father of three, abducted from Qaraqosh after August 7, 2014, pretended to convert to Islam to save his family)

Adnan (aged 60, shoe salesman, fears that he will be forced to return to Mosul from Alqosh, said on June 15, 2014 "It would be hard to start over again [elsewhere]")

Adnan Elia (shot dead)

Adnan Franco Amraia (candidate for parliament, said in Duhok on April 30, 2014 that legislation is required to protect Christians)

Adwer Al-Aswad (husband of Raghd Al-Aswad, refugee from Mosul in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on May 14, 2017 to have said he cannot honor his Muslim former neighbors who look forward to his return "We don't have any more trust. This wasn't the first time. The next time we might die")

Sr Afnan (as of October 9, 2015 has moved into a refugee camp in Ankawa, Kurdistan)

Sr Afnan de Jesus (aged 43, convert, as of December 28, 2013 supports church opposition to plans to create a Christian separatist enclave near Erbil city, Kurdistan)

Fr Afram al-Khoury Benyamen (reported on December 6, 2017 to have said in Bahzani: "The reality is we cannot stay without the U.S. or the UN helping to protect Nineveh directly. With international protection maybe we can remain, but if it doesn't come soon...we go...ISIL is not finished in Mosul and still they can come straight here. We expect more attacks. It is like staring into the darkness...Before ISIL, everything was green. Now everything is finished, nobody gave the olive trees water. And when I see the village like this I feel there is no life here. We used to have 150 doves come to our church, too. But after ISIL, even they have not come back")

Ahlam (British resident, said on April 4, 2014 "A gang claiming to be allied to [Shiite cleric Moqtada] Sadr took over my house in Karrada, and my friends tried to take it back, but they have failed so far...The house is my only source of livelihood, and I refuse to sell it because I dream of returning back to Iraq, when the security situation stabilises")

Aida Nasser Toma (wife of Haitham Boutros Azzo, mother of nine children, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015, said "It is going to be sad for all the Christians to leave. But we have no other choice, do we? All we want is to be safe and settled. I can't remember one moment of rest and peace. It's been war and violence all my life here")

Alaa Amir Hissou (killed in a February 5, 2014 bombing at one of the gates of the Green Zone in Bagdad)

Sr Alice (as of October 9, 2015 has moved into a refugee camp in Ankawa, Kurdistan)

Fr Amanoel Adel Kalloo (as of July 23, 2014 has taken refuge in Qaraqosh with more than 470 families after forced to flee the ISIL under threat of death, said "The [militants] want to erase our history and break our faith")

Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona (appealed for Christians to pray for peace after the city of Mosul fell on June 9, 2014 to the al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL following the desertion of the Iraqi Army, 150,000 civilians including thousands of Christians have fled the city in their automobiles across the Nineveh Plain toward Kurdistan, others remain trapped;

announced on June 11, 2014 that he is three miles outside Mosul and that he will not abandon it even though 500,000 people including nearly all Christians have fled after the takeover by the Al Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL, said that the city will be out of food after 2 or 3 days;

said outside Mosul on June 12, 2014 "Yesterday some people broke into the Church of the Holy Spirit to steal and wreak havoc. Nevertheless, neighbors, belonging to Muslim families, took to the streets to defend the place of Christian worship. Eventually they managed to chase the attackers away. Many people who have remained in the city, including Muslims, are trying to defend as much as possible Christian houses and places of worship";

said on June 18, 2014 "In the villages in the Nineveh plain that accommodated part of the population fled from Mosul, the situation is worsening day by day. There has been no water and electricity for two days. Fuel is beginning to run out. And last night a part of Mosul was bombed, causing a new exodus of civilians";

reported on July 3, 2013 that the air force has begun bombing ISIL targets in Mosul, which is causing thousands more to flee, also reported that there is no news regarding the missing nuns and orphans;

described on July 9, 2014 how the church has dug 8 wells to supply water for Mosul after the ISIL insurgents turned off the local water supply, said there was still no news about the missing nuns and orphans;

said in Erbil on August 9, 2014 "Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future";

appointed on January 15, 2015 to lead the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Sydney, the Chaldean diocese of Australia and New Zealand;

wrote a letter on or before March 20, 2018 that described ISIL atrocities during the 2015-2017 ISIL occupation of the Nineveh plain including the murder of four siblings aged 4, 6, 8, and 15)

Amer Bahman (aged 52, father of Andy and Amanda, said on June 29, 2014 that Christians have begun to return to their villages near Hamdaniya in Kurdistan)

Amir Yaqu (reported on December 18, 2017 to have said that circumstances are "even worse" for Christians in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain now that the Islamic State [ISIL] has been replaced by the Shia militia Hashd al-Shaabi which is “systematically trying to change the Christian demography of these places”)

Amil Noaman (aged 53, refugee, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 "We want to travel. Even an animal lives better than us")

Amir Toma (former print shop manager in Qaraqosh, fruit stand operator, home destroyed, said on October 4, 2017 "Security here is a mixed salad. Some forces support the KRG. Others Bagdad. Us poor people are in the middle")

Amira (wife of Samer, mother of Oneil, refugee in Al-Qosh as of April 6, 2015)

Fr Ammar (described an October 22, 2016 ISIL attack on university student housing in Kirkuk, Kurdistan during which seven Christian female students became trapped “Suddenly their street was filled with IS warriors, shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ [Allah is the greatest]. Most students were able to leave their houses in time, but seven girls couldn’t. They texted me in the evening; they were terrified: ‘We are in danger. Please come for us’. At least four IS soldiers had entered their house. The girls had gone to their bedroom, and were hiding under their beds, covered in blankets...At some moment the IS warriors even entered the bedroom, to pray and to care for one of their soldiers who’d got hurt. Luckily the electricity was cut off, so it was dark. Nevertheless it was a miracle the girls weren’t discovered [before the ISIL fighters were forced from the building]...In the end none of the students or nuns were injured. Praise God for that”)

Andrew (aged 5, brother of George, killed by ISIL fighters in Qaraqosh on or before August 8, 2014)

Rev Andrew White (suffers from multiple sclerosis, described in London on July 7, 2013 how 1026 members of his Bagdad congregation have been killed in the 10 years since Saddam Hussein was toppled;

in Bagdad on August 25, 2013 spoke of the silence of British leaders to the attacks on Christians “The majority of political and religious leaders still don’t talk about it. The religious leaders seem to be more concerned with who is doing the flower arranging on a Sunday and whether a gay priest is going to be ordained or not. Most people have no idea this is going on - they really have no idea at all...We used to have 1.5 million Christians, now we have probably only got 200,000 left in Iraq. There are more Iraqi Christians in Chicago than here”;

in Bagdad on February 27, 2014 requested urgent prayers for Christians in Iraq after more than 1,000 people of all faiths were killed in January 2014 "Hundreds of our people have left the church because they have left the country. The hundreds left are those who cannot afford to leave, so the poverty and needs seem greater than ever. I honestly cannot tell you how terrible things are. We are in more than a desperate crisis. We need your prayers...I will not leave my people here, however bad it is. I am not leaving, and neither is God";

said on May 6, 2014 that 1,276 of his parishioners have been killed in the last ten years, out of a total congregation of 6,500;

from Bagdad on August 4, 2014 described the murder of a Christian family of eight by the ISIL after their refusal to convert to Islam, wrote "It is as if hell has broken out here and nobody cares, that is, apart from you, our supporters, who never leave us and keep supporting us in every way";

reported on August 8, 2014 on the death of Andrew in Qaraqosh “I’m almost in tears because I’ve just had somebody in my room whose little child was cut in half. I baptized his child in my church in Baghdad. This little boy, they named him after me – he was called Andrew”;

said on September 29, 2014 "I've never known the city like it is at the moment. Streets which are usually choc-a-bloc with traffic, cars and people are almost empty. People are too fearful to even leave their homes...The Islamic State are now less than 2km away from entering Baghdad. They said it could never happen and now it almost has. Obama says he overestimated what the Iraqi army could do. Well you only need to be here a very short while to know they can do very very little...Over 1,000 Iraqi troops were killed by ISIL yesterday, things are so bad. All the military airstrikes are doing nothing. If ever we needed your prayer it is now...I must be at the top of the [ISIL target] list";

said on October 14, 2014 in Bagdad “Well, there’s one man and he was disabled and had hidden his children in his house in Kirkush and ISIL came in one day and said, ‘You’re Christian. You either convert or we chop off the heads of all your children.’ So he was forced to say the words of conversion and they spared his children, but they said if he came back and they saw he had been doing any Christian things they would kill them all. And he phoned me and said, ‘Father, Father! How could I do this? Will Jesus not love me anymore because I’ve done this?’ And I said, ‘No, whoever is in this situation would have done the same to save their children. And you will not lose them and you will not lose your faith. And you are still a Christian.’...It’s just been terrible. They have been amputating people’s heads and putting them on railings. They have chopped children in half. You know, I write some of these things on my blog and nobody believes it. They say you must be making this up, that there’s no evidence of this, this isn’t in this paper or that paper. Here we are living with it and people can’t accept it. There is no other Western person here in central Iraq. Not one. I’m the only one and they can’t believe it”;

spoke at an October 19, 2104 fundraiser in Tacoma, Washington state, United States for Iraqi Christians "The terrible thing that the Americans have to realize is that all of their intervention, everything they tried to do, has totally been wasted. Nothing has been achieved by this at all...The reason we have this tragedy now is because you came in and you left us too soon. We weren't ready to be left. Your military gave their lives, they worked to save our country, and then they left us. And I said, within three month, we will have terrorism...and we did", has been forbidden by his church to return to Bagdad;

wrote on Facebook from outside Iraq before December 24, 2014 "I will never forget the day in Baghdad when we had some visitors. They had come to see what it was really like for Christians in Iraq. They were so surprised by how happy the thousands of people were

in our congregation. 'How can you be so happy when you are surrounded, suicide bombs, mortar's rockets and such violence.' One of our young people answered the statement: 'You see when you have lost everything, Jesus is all you have got left'";

said in a television interview broadcast on March 21, 2017 “The time has come where it is over, no Christians will be left. Some stay Christians should stay to maintain the historical presence, but it has become very difficult. The future for the community is very limited. The Christians coming out of Iraq and ISIL areas in the Middle East all say the same thing, there is no way they are ever going back. They have had enough...If there is anything I can tell Americans it is that your fellow brothers and sisters are suffering, they are desperate for help”)

Fr Andrzej Halemba (head of the Middle East department of Aid to the Church in Need, said on October 29, 2014 "Without question, we are talking about genocide here. Genocide is not only when the people are killed, but also when the soul of a people is destroyed. And that is what is happening in Iraq now. It is the most tragic thing that I have ever experienced. I have seen people who have been deeply wounded in their soul. In the various crises in this world I have often seen people who have lost everything. But in Iraq there are Christians who have had to leave everything and take flight three or four times...They are all very traumatised. Normally in such situations it is the women who pull everything together. But in Kurdistan I have seen women who have looked into nothingness and have closed up on themselves. The tears in their eyes are dry";

said after the leaders of one Orthodox and two Catholic churches signed an agreement in Erbil, Kurdistan on March 27, 2017 to join together to support the rebuilding of the Christian presence in the country in the form of 12,000 new homes: "What we have done to support this initiative, we have not done for money. We have done it to ensure that the Christians can remain in Iraq. We are working for God")

Aniseh Marqus (wife of Jamil for 57 years, refugee in Alqosh, fled from ISIL in 2015, reported on March 9, 2017 to have said "They bombed the church in our neighborhood [in Batma] and destroyed everything around it. My home was nearby so naturally it was destroyed too. I wish I could return home, but I have no home left really")

Anoutha Ishak (reported on July 22, 2015 to have said in Kirkik, Kurdistan "We became depressed and psychologically unwell. I was a nurse. I left my job, my belongings, my house, and all our money. Of course after we came here our life changed", now spends most of her time in church)

Fr Aram (spoke in Al-Qosh on April 6, 2015 concerning the August 2014 arrival of the refugees after the advance of ISIL "This isn't the first time people are fleeing their homes in Mosul and other villages and coming here. But this time it was like an exodus")

Aram Sabah (disappeared in Mosul on June 28, 2014;

released on July 14, 2014, has returned to Kurdistan)

Ashty Bahro (described on or before November 3, 2017 from Kurdistan his reaction to the U.S. announcement that it would bypass the UN and directly fund Christian refugees "People are not happy with the UN, they are using money for administration. The help is coming from churches and Christian organizations. They are here in the area, they know what's happening, and they go immediately to help...the churches here are helping all, especially the evangelical churches. We have good relationships with everyone - pastors, priests, and mullahs. Here in our area, the Kurdish Muslims trust Christians. In Arab areas, I don't know")

Ashur Giwargis (head of the Assyrian Patriotic Movement in Beirut, Lebanon, said on or before

June 29, 2014 "Russia proved through history that it's the only defender of Christians...we're looking for a serious Russian stand in the international arena")

Ashur Yonan (killed in the June 24, 2013 car bombing of Abu Warda's business in Karrada, Bagdad, survived by a wife and three children)

Asmar Jumaa (daughter of Kenyas Jumaa and Sittu Adam Qaysar, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Asrar Walid (refugee, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on November 7, 2014 "Life is very bad here when it rains. We've suffered a lot. There is no machine for washing. We don't have anything. We don't have money. We ask for help to leave Iraq. Everyone just sits watching us from a distance without going to much trouble to find out how bad things are for us. Water leaks into the tents. They won't protect us in winter")

Athra Kado (Syriac language teacher in al-Qosh on April 21, 2015)

Athra Mansour (Syriac language teacher, said on October 27, 2014 that his town of Tel Isqof was empty)

Athraa (student, one of nine in her family, refugee, spoke on or before September 7, 2016 of her escape from ISIL in 2014: "The first months were a disaster. We lived in many different places. We lived in a wedding hall and a church garden. We ended up in a tent in a sports center. It was a really difficult. In the night I couldn't sleep because I heard the mice running around in my tent. There was not enough water and the food was not that good", family now shares a house with another family, added "I am glad that this happened because it changed my life. After the displacement I was bored, there was nothing to do, so I went to church more often. Soon I got involved with a Bible study group that gathers twice a week. I discovered that every line in the Bible tells us something. But what I like best is when we as a small group celebrate Holy Communion with the priest in the way the people in the time of Jesus did. We have a piece of bread and share that with each other. It is something wonderful. It gives me patience to continue my life, to see things from a bigger perspective...We don't have to spend our time asking ourselves why this happened to us. God doesn't want to hurt us. He is speaking with us and we need to hear Him and trust Him. I learned that it's good to spend these days in prayer. IS took our land and our money, but we still have our lives and we have to live them like God wants us to. When you learn these things, you have to share them. I can help God to reach the people with his message. So I want to assist the people in my community to rediscover the richness of faith and I want to be there for them when they struggle...I did go to church before my displacement, but I wasn't involved as much as I am now. I spent my time differently. I was an impatient person and always wanted to have things my way…I found a peace in my heart, peace in my life. God has made me a more patient and forgiving person. I know that God is with me and that's the most important thing")

Bishop Awa Royel (said in Washington DC, United States on July 28, 2016 "What impresses me and the churches working on the ground is the human aspect of this - that there is no respect for human life. Two years after [Christians and Yazidis] were first displaced, our communities are still in survival mode. And that's not a good thing")

Aws (aged 10, father killed by jihadists when he was a toddler, fled Mosul to Sulemaniyah before August 20, 2014 with his family)

Awshalim Benjamin (aged 74, caregiver to a 33 year old daughter, as of November 20, 2013 is waiting to join the rest of his family in the United States, said "Three days ago, they exploded a car on the street. Such things are making us leave this place")

Ay Pastor Abdi Ali Hamzah (arrested without charge in July 2011 but accused of spying for Iran,

sentenced to five years in prison, as of February 14, 2013 is suffering from serious health problems possibly including a brain tumor)

Ayad (reported on October 30, 2014 that ISIL has been planting explosives in the abandoned homes of Christians in Tel Keppe to kill them if they should return)

Ayad Imad (aged 22, said in Bagdad on December 23, 2014 that his family will be leaving the country soon)

Ayad Neha (cement worker, refugee, lives with his family of five and 21 other persons in a three room office in in Ankawa, Kurdistan as of December 29, 2014, said of ISIL “We still want to know why they kicked us out. We are peaceful people. We have not hurt anyone. Christians are peaceful people. We did not make problems. We do not know why they came there”)

Ayda Ebada (mother of Christina Khidr Ebada, said in Erbil on September 9, 2016 "Christine is still there [in a nearby location under ISIL control]...Sometimes, I fear that my Christine grows older without me, that I will never see her again", has been concerned about the pending Iraqi military offensive against Mosul, asked for prayers, added "My father stayed in Qaraqosh. He was sick, his health was not good at all. So, when everyone fled, he stayed alone in the house. Later I heard that he died three days after IS entered. He was old and sick and had no water or food. IS buried him")

Ayman Abdul Aziz Majid (refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, as of October 6, 2014 is seeking to emigrate to Canada)

Fr Ayman Aziz Hermiz (said on November 20, 2014 “The displaced can get hold of new official papers they lost – such as identity cards or certificates of nationality as well as ration cards. But the problem is they have to go to Baghdad to do this and a lot of them cannot afford to travel there, or stay there, in order to do this. Passports can be replaced in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah”)

Ayoub (daughter abducted by ISIL, pled for her return on August 27, 2014)

Ayoub Fauzi Auyyoub Al Sheikh (Mosul medical student, killed on January 8, 2013 by a car bomb)

Fr Aysur Said (reported on May 20, 2013 to have remembered the al-Qaeda attack on the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bagdad on October 31, 2011 in which 50 died)

Aziz Emmanuel al-Zebari (Chaldean Catholic church official, said on May 29, 2014 in Erbil, Kurdistan "The West is not Christian. They destroyed us by installing a government based on Islamic sects in which we have no place")

Baddu Ebada (father of 3 year old abduction victim Christina Khader Ebada, blind;

reported from Erbil on September 9, 2016 how his sister remained in her home after the 2014 ISIL takeover: "She was 80 years old and didn’t want to leave. She refused to flee with us, she wanted to stay in her home in Qaraqosh...It might have been my sister [who was reported by Mosul TV as having died], but I’m not sure. I have no way to contact her")

Badriya (housemate of Zarifa Bakoos Daddo in Qaraqosh, freed from ISIL control in October 2016)

Baidaa Alias (mother of Marvin Bashar, was likely the first woman to give birth in the refugee camp after fleeing ISIL, said in Ankawa, Kurdistan on December 29, 2014 “Yesterday I passed one of the tents, and I saw a lady, she’s a grandma, preparing clothes for a new baby to be born. I hate myself in this situation. When the new baby comes, what should I write where they put date and place of birth? ‘Tents’?”)

Sr Ban Madleen (denied a visa on or before April 2, 2018 to visit her ill sister in the UK)

Sr Ban Saaed (refugee, has been aiding 1,500 displaced Christians in Ankawa. Erbil, Kurdistan, said on November 6, 2014 "What is this Islamic State [ISIL] that is frightening the world? More should be done to remove these militants who have caused great human suffering to our people";

as of December 24, 2015 has been living in a shipping container near Erbil, Kurdistan, said: "Our identity is very difficult...in our country. We would like to live our lives in peace, but we haven't seen peace since we've been born")

Barbara (aged 14, daughter of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Bishop Barnaba Yousif Habash (called in Newark, New Jersey, United States on July 21, 2014 for protection for the Yezidi religious minority, who are threatened by the ISIL advance "Their situation is considered worse than ours”)

Fr Bashar (has been aiding 1,500 displaced Christians in Ankawa. Erbil, Kurdistan, said on November 6, 2014 that his bishop has obtained 60 trailers for people to live in)

Dr Bashar al-Ghanem Akrawi (reported on July 10, 2015 to have been abducted in Bagdad, freed by police)

Fr Bashar Kthea (aged 39, fled Qaraqosh in August 2014 during the ISIL assault, lived in his automobile for 3 months, reported to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan on July 22, 2015 that life in the refugee camps had led to "moral corruption" due to lack of work, married couples "losing patience" with each other, the young feel they cannot further their education or marry;

said on September 9, 2016 that many of his refugee parishioners in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan wish to return home [after an ISIL defeat "I even get phoned by my people abroad, to ask if the liberation of Qaraqosh is starting")

Bashar Mansor (watched Kurdish Peshmerga forces flee from the ISIL advance, said in Erbil on August 29, 2014 “I don’t trust anyone now. Not the Iraqi army, not the Peshmerga, and not the United States. I don’t trust any of them to protect us”)

Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda CSSR (stated on June 11, 2012 in Erbil: “We see it [a New Evangelization] as strengthening our relationship with Jesus who suffered and was crucified. This means reflecting on our wounds and not just bearing them, but taking these wounds with joy that we have participated in the suffering of Our Lord. We believe that true Christianity is a persecuted Christianity. That's true all over the world”;

on November 20, 2013 described how large numbers of Christians have left Bagdad and relocated to Iraqi Kurdistan "I would say 99 percent of those families [who moved to Ainkawa] would not think to go back again";

said in Erbil on June 7, 2014 that more than 12,000 Christian families have fled for Kurdistan because "In Baghdad and elsewhere local Christians are under constant fear that they may fall victim to bomb blasts, murders and abductions";

said on October 7, 2014 in Erbil, Kurdistan “The reality is that Christians have received no support from the central government. They have done nothing for them, absolutely nothing...We have not had a clear denunciation of [ISIL] from Muslim leaders" who he alleged are more concerned with their international reputation, also said "We visit the tents every day and speak to the people we are helping and they say they would like to go back to their homes immediately but how can you live among the people who were your

neighbors when they have betrayed you?";

spoke before members of the British Parliament in London, United Kingdom on February 10, 2015"We don't have much time left as Christians in this region. As a Catholic I find it hard to say, but I want military action, there is no other way now";

reported on March 22, 2015 to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan "For me, ISIL is a cancer. So sometimes you take some hard measures, unfortunate measures, to deal and treat this cancer", when asked if he supported a military defeat of ISIL he replied "Please God";

said at the Knights of Columbus Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on August 4, 2015 “Our people are asking these questions: how come we apply for the American visa and are denied? This is a clear case of persecution. They’re being denied visas while others who have participated [in the violence] or at least were silent can go...All the statements [by U.S. government and media] have not condemned strongly what damage it is doing. What they are saying is just ‘This is not the true Islam. This is violating the picture of Islam.’ The issue for them is the image of Islam, but none of these statements speak about the victims, about what has been done to the victims, they are not even mentioned. And that is one of the questions our people have”;

wrote on August 8, 2015 "For the Chaldean Church, and our sister churches of the East, the persecution our community is enduring is doubly painful and severe. We are personally affected by the need, and by the reality that our vibrant church life is dissolving in front of our eyes. The massive immigration that is now occurring is leaving my church much weaker. This is a deeply sorrowful reality. We who are part of the church hierarchy are very often tempted to encourage our parishioners to stay – keep the presence of Christ alive in this special land. But truly I and my brother bishops and priests can do no more than to advise young mothers and fathers to take all the necessary considerations into account and to pray long and hard before taking such a momentous, and perhaps perilous, decision. The Church is unable to offer and guarantee the fundamental security that its members need to thrive. It is no secret that hatred of minorities has intensified in certain quarters over the past few years. It is difficult to understand this hate. We are hated because we persist in wanting to exist as Christians...", added details on how the global church is helping Iraqis;

said on November 18, 2016 of the aftermath of the defeat of ISIL “Going back I think is certain: people will go back but they need some time. When? This ‘when’ is not a time, it's a status: when Mosul is liberated, when Mosul is secure, when the government starts moving towards reconstructing and trying to really make these places [on the Nineveh Plain] secure. Of course some people will stay in Duhok and Erbil because they have made their life and started small businesses, but if concrete signs are given people will definitely return. We expect this to happen but I would say hopefully by the summer of 2017 we will be seeing people on the ground working, cleaning and trying to open institutions again”;

on February 1, 2017 unveiled a plan to rebuild Christian homes on the Nineveh Plain that have been destroyed by ISIL;

temporarily barred from entry to the United States as of February 2, 2017, Congressional hearing cancelled in response, said "I don’t know what the president knows about security risks as they relate to the 'countries of concern' and refugees from them...One other thing: Christians and other minorities have been largely ignored by the American government before now, so even if this step had a bumpy start and required clarification, we in Iraq appreciate that an American administration understands that we are here and wants to help the minorities here who have suffered so much...From my perspective in Iraq, I wonder why all of these protesters were not protesting in the streets when ISIL came to kill Christians and Yazidis and other minority groups. They were not protesting when the tens

of thousands of displaced Christians my archdiocese has cared for since 2014 received no financial assistance from the U.S. government or the UN. There were no protests when Syrian Christians were only let in at a rate that was 20 times less than the percentage of their population in Syria. I do not understand why some Americans are now upset that the many minority communities that faced a horrible genocide will finally get a degree of priority in some manner...I would also say this, all those who cry out that this is a 'Muslim Ban' - especially now that it has been clarified that it is not - should understand clearly that when they do this, they are hurting we Christians specifically and putting us at greater risk. The executive order has clearly affected Christians and Yazidis and others as well as Muslims. Here in Iraq we Christians cannot afford to throw out words carelessly as the media in the West can do. I would ask those in the media who use every issue to stir up division to think about this. For the media these things become an issue of ratings, but for us the danger is real. Most Americans have no concept of what it was like to live as a Yazidi or Christian or other minority as ISIL invaded. Our people had the option to flee, to convert, or to be killed, and many were killed in the most brutal ways imaginable. But there were none of these protests then of ISIL’s religious test. Our people lost everything because of their faith - they were targeted for their faith, just like the Yazidis and others too. Now these protesters are saying that religion should not matter at all, even though someone was persecuted for their faith, even though persecution based on religion is one of the grounds for refugee status in the UN treaty on refugees...From here I have to say, it is really unbelievable. It is exactly this reasoning, that religion should not be a factor at all in American policy, that has resulted in Christians and other minority communities being overlooked by U.S. and UN aid programs";

reported on April 14, 2017 to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan "It's very hard to maintain a Christian presence now. Families have ten reasons to leave and not one reason to stay. This is a critical time in our history in this land. We are desperate....We have to stay. But how many will stay? I doubt fifty, a hundred, or a thousand families will stay in the end. We will have to become missionaries";

said at Georgetown University, Washington DC, United States on February 15, 2018 “Having faced for 1,400 years the slow-motion genocide that began long before the ongoing ISIL genocide today, the time for excusing this inhuman behavior and its causes is long since past...The harsh truth to this question is that without an end to this persecution and violence there is no future for religious pluralism in Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East for that matter...So few of us are left, some estimate 200,000 Christians or less. While it is true that our numbers are small, the apostles were much smaller...We forgive those who murdered us, who tortured us, who raped us, who sought to destroy everything about us. We forgive them in the name of Christ. We say this to our Muslim neighbors, learn this from us. Let us help you heal. Your wounds are as deep as ours...We pray for your healing”)

Archbishop Basile Casmoussa (as of July 23, 2014 has taken refuge in Qaraqosh with more than 470 families after forced to flee the ISIL under threat of death, said "Our faith is being tested")

Basima al-Safar (muralist, said in Alqosh on October 27, 2014 "I will paint the Christians as homeless people, emigrating with bags. I will paint the truth")

Fr Behnam Benoka (commented on the April 17, 2015 car bombing of the United States consulate in Erbil, Kurdistan which killed 3 and injured 14 in the only city left as a refuge for Christians in the country “Certainly, everyone will be very concerned about this situation. We hope nothing more comes. We hope this refuge remains solid and strong, safe. This is what we hope because we have nowhere else to go”;

as of September 26, 2015 has been operating two clinics out of tents for refugees in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on a shortage of medicines;

said in Washington DC, United States on July 28, 2016 "there is still an urgent need for food. Many families have no work and their supplies are running out. Even if someone gets a job in Kurdistan they often won't get paid";

reported on January 4, 2017 to have said So many families are leaving Iraq. The faith of the people is strong, even if they are leaving the country or they are staying there. But they're still praying, they still have hope in a big miracle for their lives")

Fr Benedict Kiely (founder of Nasarean.org, commented on or before April 2, 2018 on the UK government's refusal to issue a visa to Sr Ban Madleen for her lack of recent travel there “Do they not know what happened [in Iraq] between 2014 and now?”)

Deacon Benian Abdullah (reported on December 6, 2017 to have said in Bahzani: “We are always worried about who will be our future government? Who will be the next to control us?”)

Archbishop Benjamin Sleiman (commented on June 13, 2014 in Bagdad on the impact of the ISIL militant advance “In the capital there is an atmosphere of great fear and apprehension. Many public services are blocked and circulation cut off in some areas”)

Bernadette (wife of Nissan Botros, as of December 24, 2015 a refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan along with his children and grandchildren)

Bernan Petros (aged 47, reported on July 22, 2015 to have said in Kirkik, Kurdistan "We were almost the last family to leave [Bartella]. We left everything behind, even our money. Without my money, how can I make plans? Everything I had is under the control of ISIL...We don't have work. We just survive on what they give us")

Bernard Geggi (medic, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on October 1, 2014 "I don't want to emigrate. I don't want to leave my country. This is my country. It's dear to me. I'm Iraqi, an Iraqi Christian, an authentic Iraqi. Why should I leave? Where shall I go?")

Patriarch Beshara Boutros al-Rai (visited with displaced Christians in Erbil on August 20, 2014 in the company of four other patriarchs)

Fr Biyos Qasha (said after the March 8, 2018 murder of Dr Hisham Shafiq al-Maskuni and his family "We are seen as a lamb to be killed at any time")

Fr Boulus Eskander Bahnam (father of Fadi Eskander, abducted in Mosul on October 9, 2006; body found on October 12, 2006, had been beheaded)

Chaeen Bassem (aged 7, refugee in Bagdad as of December 25, 2014)

Fr Charbel Issa (as of October 16, 2014 has been informed about the continuing desecration of the Mar Behnam Monastery near Qaraqosh by ISIL)

Christina Khidr Ebada (aged 3, abducted on August 22, 2014 from her mother's lap by ISIL militants in Qaraqosh;

a Christian woman named Rana in a September 2014 phone conversation after her capture by ISIL said that she had cared for Christina, said Christina was later given to a Muslim family to be raised as a Muslim;

still missing as of July 17, 2015;

still missing as of September 9, 2016, a photograph of her appeared on Facebook before the internet was cut from Mosul;

recovered in good health by Iraqi government forces during fighting in the Mosul area,

returned to her parents on June 9, 2017, had lost the ability to speak Assyrian, has been "overwhelmed" by the welcome received at the refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan where her parents live)

Dalal aka Delilah (aged 72, wife of Najib, couple unable to flee ISIL due to age and illness, forced at gunpoint to flee from Baghdede on August 7, 2014, passed out while walking in the 113 degree heat)

Fr Daniel (aged 23, reported on May 20, 2013 to have said in Bashiqa "This is chaos. The new authorities in Baghdad are unable to protect us, so our people continue to flee in the thousands. However, in recent months we have also welcomed many Christian families arriving from Syria and knocking the doors of our monasteries and churches. Many of them [come] with virtually nothing.")

Fr Daniel Alkhory (reported on January 6, 2015 to have said "I just keep telling the kids [in the Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan refugee camp that] you have to forgive. Forgiveness will lead us to so many paths. I don't want them to grow up and be after revenge and be angry. We want to make a party for them every day. We just want them to be happy and keep smiling. We just want the children to feel like they are at home", added that they have lost contact with 15 Christian families that were unable to escape ISIL;

on or before August 20, 2016 described efforts to educate children in the refugee camps in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan "We want our youth to stay here [in Iraq]. We want them to feel powerful...They feel like they are a molecule ... a grain of sand...When they go to their tents, they don't know what's going on except that their mother's grieving and their father's shouting. The Christian community is really angry about what the Muslims did to them...I don't think we have any problem with the children. The trouble is on the other side [i.e. with Muslims under ISIL influence]")

Fr Daniel Behnam (refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan, spoke on December 24, 2015 of his parishioners being driven out from their homes by ISIL “We closed the door behind, knowing there was no turning back. But one thing we would not do! We would not submit!...A church that is not suffering is not a church”, and quoted Patriarch Ignatius Zakka's alternate reading of the Creed "one holy catholic, apostolic and persecuted church")

Daniel Mochtar (aged 4, son of Salwan Mochtar, refugee for over a year as of October 21, 2015)

Fr Dankbar Issa (said on March 29, 2015 in Malabrwan "ISIL is an army of the devil. And the warriors of ISIL are sons of the devil. There is no other explanation for what they are doing to people")

Metropolitan Daoud Matti Sharaf (said on October 26, 2014 in Erbil, Kurdistan "Winter is coming. We need shelter. Not tents, but houses and 'caravans' [winterized 'tents' with flooring]. We have no hope. Only God. We will not return to Mosul unless there is international protection...[People in the West] say they do not know. How can you not know? You either support ISIL or you have turned off all of the satellites. I am sorry to say this, but my pain is big. I am an archbishop and I have no churches. I am not afraid of anything. I have lost everything";

signed a request on May 12, 2017 for international protection for the minorities of the Nineveh Plain after the expulsion of ISIL)

David Georgis (father of Saad George, hearing and speech impaired, reported on August 25, 2014 to have died of starvation in Bashiqa after three weeks of ISIL occupation)

David Thamir (young boy, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014, said "I do not

think Father Christmas will come this year because he does not know where we are living now, and we are always changing places. Father Christmas knows our house in Bartilla and he will go there, and there is nobody who will tell him where we are now. All our neighbors have left and our village is now empty, my father has told us")

Dhia Roufa (fled his home in Mosul in 2006 after militants threatened to abduct his daughter;

said on or before November 29, 2016 after returning to his home in Qaraqosh following the expulsion of ISIL "I am 64 years old. If I were young I could start again, but at this age what can I do? We [Christians] have no future in Iraq")

Sr Diana Momeka (reported on April 30, 2015 to have been denied a visa to travel to the U.S. due to a U.S. government decision that she would likely overstay her visa, she was the only Christian in a delegation of Iraqi religious minorities who were to speak in the U.S. and the only member of the delegation to be denied a visa;

decision reversed on May 11, 2015, visa issued;

reported on January 4, 2017 to have described the damage done by ISIL "We went to see what happened to our hometowns, we could not believe the hatred and the revenge that ISIL has against us...It's a total mess. There was some hope to have a future, [but] we feel that there's no future left for the Christians. It's kind of a sign for us, 'you should leave, we've destroyed everything you have'")

Dima (child of Majida Sabali, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Patriarch Dinkha IV (unable to travel with five other patriarchs to Erbil on August 20, 2014 from Chicago due to severe illness)

Dominique (aged 72, engineer, father of Michael, fled Mosul for Bagdad in 1960 upon the murder of his father for being a Christian, has now fled again for Ankawa suburb, Erbil, Kurdistan, said on June 22, 2014 “To be a Christian in Iraq is to be subjected to terrorist acts. We move from city to city in Iraq because we have believed in the promises of the government and of Muslim clerics that we would be safe. we now believe that we have run out of places to hide”)

Fr Douglas al-Bazi (refugee, as of September 17, 2014 ministers to 700 families who are also refugees in Ainkawa;

said on September 29, 2014 of the 700 Christian refugees camped in his Ainkawa churchyard "Just think about their spiritual life -- how can they live like this? But as Christians, we have to get inside the pain. Christ said, 'Carry your cross and follow me.' So if we take that cross, perhaps in 20 years' time, we will say it was a time of opportunity because we did believe";

said in Erbil, Kurdistan on November 7, 2014 "When our history and our name and everything are obliterated, that really is a genocide. The groups who have suffered the most from what's happened in Mosul are our brothers the Yazidis and the Christians. I am not surprised if ISIL kills people of that religion. What a way to treat them, and those who have no religion!";

said in Ankawa, Kurdistan on December 29, 2014 “I care about my people. I don’t care about the ‘Middle East.’ The Middle East for almost 2,000 years has been the same. It’s the same war, the same conflict. So, why do I have to put my people inside that war? Why?...I am angry because I know Islam very well. In Baghdad they blew up my church. I drove by three bombings, and twice my car was destroyed. I got shot in my leg by an AK-47 – by Islam, and they kidnapped me for nine days...You know who represents Islam very well?

ISIL. They are the true Islam. So if someone says, ‘No, they do not represent Islam, Hamas does not represent Islam, Hezbollah does not represent Islam.’ Who’s left then? Come on guys. Come on. Wake up. You know, stop saying those stupid things – it’s just stupid. What for? If I lose the last drop of our blood [by encouraging Christians to stay], what is the point of that?”;

on April 15, 2015 called on Western governments to protect the lives of Christians and not leave them again to be slaughtered: "Open the gates, give my people visas";

said in Irbil, Kurdistan on June 19, 2015 "Some priests have asked me if I'm mad, saying that people are dying and you are buying books...but when they grow up, I want them to say that when we entered persecution, that is the time I started learning French, that is the time I learned to play guitar…We believe kids are our future, and teenagers, the girls, the females especially, are our next future. If we lose them we are going to lose the community";

said after airspace over Erbil, Kurdistan has been closed to commercial aviation for 48 hours beginning December 7, 2015, stranding 150 Christian refugees: “Russia is said to be sending missiles to several targets and therefore the airspace needs to be ‘free’. My people are a little bit disappointed, but they have been waiting for 15 months already and so two days does not make much difference";

said during the March 10, 2016 presentation at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., United States of a 280 page joint report by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians on the continuing persecution of Christians: “I’m here to tell you that my people — they feel that we are forgotten and alone. And I am here to tell the Americans the first right step should be taken is to call it a genocide”)

Duraid Hikmat Tobiya (reported on June 25, 2016 to have presented in Bagdad documentation on ISIL atrocities against Christians and Yazidis in Mosul)

Elias Boulos Kero (killed by ISIL in Qaraqosh on August 20, 2014 for refusing to convert to Islam)

Elid Matte (refugee from Qaraqosh in Erbil, Kurdistan, said on October 6, 2014 "someone has to stop Daesh [aka ISIL], even if it takes years, because they want to destroy everything and bring us and the rest of the world back to the Middle Ages")

Eliyas (husband of Rimista, father of two, abducted and freed after paying US$25,000, Syrian refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on February 4, 2015 to have split up his family and sent his wife to Europe but she became a refugee in Tanzania)

Fr Emad (ordained in Aishty 2 camp, Erbil, Kurdistan on August 5, 2016)

Emad al-Dalakta (teacher, said on September 9, 2016 in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan "The trust in politicians is gone. They just talk, while the church is helping. The church will have a bigger role after we return [home after an ISIL defeat]. Now it actually already does what the government should be doing")

Eman (nurse, as of June 20, 2014 has fled Mosul for refuge in the Mar Mattai Syrian Orthodox monastery)

Fr Emanuel Adel Kelo (said in Ankawa, Kurdistan on August 9, 2016 "If organized migration were possible, then I can say that 90 percent of the inhabitants of this camp would leave";

described on or before March 20, 2018 how Christians during the July 2015 ISIL takeover of the Nineveh plain refused to meet with ISIL militants "There was specific concern that the intention was to keep women there so that they could be taken freely by the ISIL

fighters", the Christians were later expelled)

Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana (reported on July 23, 2014 on the continuing persecution of Christians;

wrote on October 17, 2016 concerning the Iraqi military operation to drive ISIL from Mosul "Liberating Mosul means the liberation of Nineveh Plains. Intensive coalition air strikes and heavy shelling from Iraqi Army and Peshmerga started since Sunday evening against ISIL positions in the different front lines heading to Mosul. Normally, such intensive bombing is followed by ground troops advance, maybe this morning. Let us pray for the protection of innocent lives and civilians. Let us pray for political stability post-ISIL, which is the main challenge. Let us pray for the protection of the properties and infrastructure")

Rev Emile Isho (stated on August 22, 2013 that he believes that all remaining Christians will emigrate)

Esam (father of three, said on or before December 3, 2016: "My wife's brother was crucified by Daesh [ISIL]. He was crucified and tortured in front of his wife and children, who were forced to watch. They told him that if he loved Jesus that much, he would die like Jesus...A Swedish organization helped his wife and the children, they are now in Sweden. His wife has cancer")

Essam Elsamak (son of Maha Sallem Elsamak, uncle of Ouday Imad, fiancé of Raghda Adel, survived a September 10, 2014 Bagdad market car bombing)

Esther Zaya Hormez (aged 82, mother of Kenyas Jumaa, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Evan Faraj-Tobea (aged 31, English teacher, fled Qaraqosh with his wife on August 6 2014 after an ISIL shell killed two children and a woman "I saw when they took their bodies to the church. It was like hell that day. We felt afraid because it was a huge sound. We couldn't stay in that situation", as of September 22, 2014 is now a refugee in Ainkawa)

Fade Yousif (husband of Naghm Yousif Abdel Meseeh, father of Merna and Maram, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015)

Fadi (aged 38, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Fadi (child of Majida Sabali, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Fadi Eskander (son of Fr Boulus Eskander Bahnam;

reported on July 18, 2018 to have been ordained to the priesthood in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Fadi Ibrahim (middle school student, forced to take a Mosul school exam on Christmas Day 2012 and to miss Mass)

Fadi Nabil Ibrahim Abbush (aged 20, accounting major, killed by a car bomb in Bagdad on September 1, 2014)

Fadi Rafaat (aged 27, assistant to Fr Thair Abdul Masih, said in Bagdad on December 26, 2014 of the war's refugees "They live in misery...yet we still exchange blessings and congratulations of Christmas and the New Year. We celebrate the happiness of Christmas, but deep inside we carry the sadness of Iraq")

Fadia Salem (refugee, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on November 7, 2014 "We left our homes around Qaraqush. No one is there now, everyone left. If there'd been international protection for us, we wouldn't have left our homes, wouldn't have to live in these tents. But is there any

international protection?")

Fadil (young father, said on March 29, 2015 in Malabrwan "We Christians must suffer as Christ suffered. That is what our faith teaches us. But that also comforts us. Faith is the only thing we have left")

Fahmi Yusef Mansour (business destroyed in rioting)

Faiza Yaaqoub (aged 68, reported on December 6, 2017 to have returned to Bahzani:)

Falah Baqus (said in Qaraqosh on October 4, 2017 "We are Iraqi citizens, but the state has not granted us protection. It breaks my heart to see my town littered like this, but if I do not come back, things will never be restored")

Falah Saaed (aged 50, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 of his 4 year old daughter "She says Daesh [ISIL] will come for us. I can't say anything, my heart breaks...We used to be like brothers with the Muslims. Then when Daesh came, they turned against us. You don't know who's your friend or your enemy")

Fareed Behnam (aged 34, killed in a car bombing along with 323 others in al-Karada, Bagdad on July 3, 2016)

Farouk Anna Atto (director of the Ankawa Syriac Heritage Museum in the Ankawa district, Erbil city, Kurdistan, said on December 28, 2013 “If political Islam will take control of the government here, I don’t know what might happen to us in 50 years”)

Pastor Farouk Hammo (described on or before November 3, 2017 from Bagdad his reaction to the U.S. announcement that it would bypass the UN and directly fund Christian refugees: “The bottom line is that we do not recommend direct aid from the States to Christians. It will agitate our Muslim brothers negatively against the Christian community”)

Farqad Malko (said in Mosul on December 24, 2017 that the Christmas liturgy was "important to relaunch Christian life")

Faten (former teacher, refugee in Ankawa. Erbil, Kurdistan, on November 6, 2014 described life in a school with no heat)

Fatin Yousef (aged 49, mother of Lorita, as of March 31, 2013 has sent one son to the United States and is arranging for her other children to emigrate due to the rising Islamic movements;

as of September 10, 2013 has fled the country after 10 years of persecution in which she was forced to leave her job and abandon her Bagdad home, uncle was abducted and murdered, brother-in-law abducted and disappeared, daughter forced to attend Islamic classes at university that denigrated Christianity, of sixty relatives only one is now left in the country)

Fida Boutros Matti (wife of Adel Matti, abducted from Qaraqosh after August 7, 2014, separated from her husband, put in a cell with Yazidi girls aged 10 to 18 and witnessed their serial rapes, told her captors that her 10 year old daughter was 8, agreed with her husband that they needed to convert to Islam to appease their captors, released, escaped to Kurdish territory)

Firas (husband, teacher, refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan, said on December 24, 2015: “Don’t ask me what I’ve lost. Ask me what I’ve gained!”)

Firas (aged 15, child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Firaz Jacob (as of June 22, 2014 is the leader of a 600-man Christian militia in Bartella that

intends to defend its town and its mostly 16,000 Christians from the ISIL insurgents)

Firaz Petros (aged 27, resident of Qaraqosh, said on July 23, 2014 "We're barely earning enough to live")

Flora Anwar (held captive with her two children by ISIL militants, robbed by female militants dressed entirely in black who had non-Arab accents, released, said “The female militants were as brutal as the men. They treated us more mercilessly than the men”)

Flourine ('young girl', refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan, said reportedly on February 19, 2015 that she missed "our school and our church")

Fullah Falah (aged 9, refugee in Bagdad as of December 25, 2014)

Fr Gabriel Gorgis (said in al-Qosh on April 21, 2015 "Look around at our history. We have been here for thousands of years. Wouldn't it be a shame to the world and future generations to lose us?")

Friar Gabriel Tooma (said in Alqosh on June 15, 2014 "People are afraid of what's coming next. I fear there will be a day when people will say: 'There were once Christians in Iraq.'")

Gawad Habib (abducted on May 4, 2014 in Hawaigat Hosan, Nineveh province, released on May 5, 2014)

George (brother of Andrew, fled with his parents to Erbil)

George (father of Juliana George, said in Bagdad on May 12, 2015 "I used to tuck her into bed and cover her every night...It has been 7 days now [since her abduction] and no one seems to care, no one is doing anything";

said after his daughter’s ransom on May 13, 2015 "I fear for her and my two other daughters. There is no reason to believe that we will not be targeted again. I don't see how we can stay in Baghdad after this")

George Shamoun (church elder, husband, father of two sons and a daughter, abducted in Bagdad on July 21, 2016, released on July 27, 2016 after payment of US$70,000)

Fr Georges Jahoula (said on June 9, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan that reportedly ISIL celebrated the one year anniversary of their occupation of Mosul by converting a church into a mosque "All our heritage is in Mosul, in Qaraqosh [formerly the main Syrian Catholic town in Nineveh] but especially in the monastery of St Behnam, which dates back to the fourth century AD. I have heard that some parts of the monastery, which is quite famous and old and contains thousands of Scriptures, were destroyed...But we have no news about our churches and monasteries because we have no-one left in Mosul to report on it";

said on May 18, 2017 “After the liberation of the town, between 11 November and 3 December 2016, we spent 15 working days photographing 6,000 houses in Baghdeda. We divided them up and mapped them sector by sector, assessing the degree of damage in each case. There are houses that have been very badly damaged or even destroyed, which need completely rebuilding, houses that have been burned or struck by missiles, which can still be rebuilt. And then there are houses that have been only partially damaged and can be repaired without much difficulty. We began work with a team of 20 volunteer engineers. Today I have 40 of them helping me and almost 2000 able-bodied workers ready to start work. We are optimistic about it. The reconnection of the electricity supply is slowly being extended throughout the town”)

Georgette Hanna (aged 60, reported on January 25, 2017 to have been discovered in Telkeif by Iraqi soldiers, had been hidden from ISIL by a Muslim family for two and a half years)

Bishop Gewargis Sliwa (aged 73, elected 112th Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in Erbil, Kurdistan on September 18, 2015, announced that he will take the name of Mar Gewargis III and return the patriarchal see back to Iraq from Chicago)

Ghazala Elyas (aged 80, neighbor of Victoria, suffers from breast cancer, one of 11 sick and elderly Christians in Karamless who on August 16, 2014 defied ISIL demands to convert under penalty of death, scolded the terrorists who then demanded they leave, now in a refugee camp in Erbil)

Ghazan (aged 47, father of three aged 9 through 21, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on September 28, 2016 to have said “Back in my own town on the Nineveh Plain, I used to have a successful transport company. We had a good life until ISIL came and forced us out. I heard that ISIL stole all our cars and are using them in Mosul right now...I have lost everything, but I thank God that my family is still with me”, currently works in a bakery, said "Although I don’t earn much here and I have to work much longer hours than I did in my last job, I can at least pay rent so my family doesn’t have to live in a camp")

Fr Ghazwan Yousif Baho (usually teaches two months a year in Rome, escorted an elderly couple to Rome for their meeting with the Pope, decided to immediately return to his Iraqi parish in Alqosh which is ten kilometers from ISIL-held territory, said on October 9, 2014 "I've met very few people who had lost faith and hope. So many suffered, so the sorrowful mysteries for us a daily act. But despite all this suffering, I've seen very few people who've lost the faith. [People] would tell me 'Father, we are safe and all our children are with us. The rest will come later. But we thank God that the Lord has saved us. We have lost everything, but we are saved.' I heard this phrase from so many people. Desperate, but they never lost their faith. And these sorrowful mysteries of the rosary for us are a daily reality, but they also give us the strength to keep going";

celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus with his parishioners on March 27, 2016, said "Yes, we are celebrating today in Alqosh and we are only 15 kilometers away from the frontlines of the war. But we tried to show that we are far from the war, because we have hope and we ask God to save us and everyone else from wars, especially in our areas")

Ghenwa Ghassan (aged 17, said in Karamlesh on December 23, 2017 "It might seem strange to hear that a female Santa Claus has appeared in this city. But I wanted to give the people here a simple gift - to bring Christmas to a place where it had been banished")

Apostolic Nuncio Giorgio Lingua (concelebrated a Mass on December 16, 2012 in Kirkuk that was shaken by the terrorist bombing of two nearby mosques)

Patriarch Gregorios III Laham (visited with displaced Christians in Erbil on August 20, 2014 in the company of four other patriarchs)

Archbishop Habib Hormouz al-Naufali (said in Basra on or before August 17, 2017 "There were many, many people under the control of ISIL and who have been brainwashed. We hope ISIL will be uprooted from Iraq, but we are afraid of a new ISIL. There are millions of illiterate, youth and children, on the streets, begging, it's chaotic. There are two parts of the population - one of those is living according to the sixth, seventh, or fourteenth century, the mentality is very old";

said on or before September 20, 2017 that there were only 300 families left in his Basra eparchy [diocese], of its 15 churches only 4 are open, requested that a statute of Mary the mother of Jesus be moved from a public park to church property;

said at an early December 2017meeting at the European parliament "The daily practice of robberies, gang rapes, torture and murder of Christians [in Basra] is ongoing. Therefore, they are pondering what will be next. We are afraid of another wave of persecution that

will be the end of Christians";

appealed for prayer during an uprising against the central government in Basra on September 9, 2018: "...half the places traditionally occupied by the faithful [in the pews] were empty, because people could not reach the church because surrounding streets were closed [by the military, but it] did not stop even Muslim brothers and sisters from reaching our church to ask them for the mercy and help of God in front of what is happening...[This is a] humanitarian, social and cultural disaster. When you hear what is happening in Basra, you feel ashamed as a human being")

Sr Habiba Bihnam Toma OP (has been aiding 1,500 displaced Christians in Ankawa. Erbil, Kurdistan, on November 6, 2014 described the October 20, 2014 flooding of the refugee camp "The tents quickly filled with water and collapsed. They were engulfed in mud. Some people had to be taken to the hospital. This happened at 3 a.m.";

spoke in Springfield, Illinois, United States on March 29, 2017 regarding the 2014 ISIL takeover of her town and the aftermath "We heard the sound of gunshots. We were afraid, cried, prayed and moved slowly among the thousands of people crouching to the ground to avoid the bullets and yelling, 'Where are you, O God? Why have you abandoned us?' It was a shock to leave the walls of our convent and see the streets full of cars and people, all doing as we were doing, leaving our [homes] out of fear for our lives. The main road was filled with cars and people walking that we could not continue. We abandoned the road for unused path...Finally, all of the sisters arrived at the convent. [We] numbered 75 living in a building meant to hold 20...All day we visited [the refugees], listened to their suffering, encouraged them to be patient, wait in hope and strength of their faith. Everyone was suffering because ISIS destroyed not only our homes and schools but our churches and monasteries and all the landmarks of our 2,000-year-old Christian culture")

Haitham Behnam (aged 34, reported on July 21, 2017 to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan he will not return to his home in Mosul “There’s no security, no protection for Christians back there. It’s better for us to stay here and keep our mouths shut”)

Habiba Daud (refugee, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Haitham Boutros Azzo (husband of Aida Nasser Toma, father of nine children, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015)

Hala Salim (disappeared in Mosul on June 28, 2014;

released on July 14, 2014, has returned to Kurdistan)

Halla (spoke in the Chaldean cathedral in Kirkuk on October 31, 2012 in memory of her brother Saad and almost 100 other Christians who have been murdered since 2003)

Hana (wife of Radi Yusef, mother, fled on July 1, 2014 from the ISIL militants to Alqosh)

Hanaa (wife of Khalid, mother of seven including Jameel, fled with her children from Qaraqosh on August 6, 2014, husband and father-in-law disappeared on August 10, 2014; UPDATE: refugee, as of October 14, 2016 shares a residence in Erbil, Kurdistan with two other families, said of her son in the army "He so wants to go back and see our house in Qaraqosh. In May this year he was shot while fighting IS in nearby Tel Skuf. He’s getting married soon...our joy will only be complete if we hear anything about Khalid", cried when she said "I carry Khalid’s photo and run here and there, trying to hear anything about him")

Sr Hayat OP (aged 30, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, has been sleeping on the floor of a laundry, started a youth prayer group, said on October 15, 2015 "They’re asking God what He wants them to do. Should they migrate? Or should they stand firmly in this country,

accepting what God is doing here? Pray that God opens doors for them and shows them which one to take”)

Dr Hisham Shafiq al-Maskuni (aged 61, husband of Shaza Malik, stabbed to death in a targeted robbery in al-Mashtal neighborhood, Bagdad on March 8, 2018)

Sr Huda (school administrator, said on September 9, 2016 in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan "Most people can think of nothing else than going back [home after an ISIL defeat]...This school will remain open for those who stay, and now we know how easy it is to build a new one over there")

Ibrahim Marzina (said in Erbil, Kurdistan on June 27, 2014 that he hopes to leave Iraq)

Ibrahim Shaba Lalo (refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on May 1, 2016 to have said of life in a camp “If we were not believers, half of us would be suicidal”)

Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II Karim (on June 20, 2014 visited the displaced Christians at the Mar Mattai Syrian Orthodox monastery;

visited with displaced Christians in Erbil on August 20, 2014 in the company of four other patriarchs)

Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III (visited with displaced Christians in Erbil on August 20, 2014 in the company of four other patriarchs;

estimated on or before March 20, 2018 that ISIL killed more than 500 Christians during their 2015-2017 ISIL occupation of the Nineveh plain)

Imad Aziz (husband of Leila Aziz, refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Imad Yokhana Yago (Member of Parliament, reported on May 20, 2013 in Kikuk to support Christian autonomy in the Nineveh region;

apartment in Rafidayn, Kirkuk province [Kurdistan] car-bombed on or before September 23, 2013, 50 people injured including his wife and three of his sons;

on March 3, 2014 said that corrupt politicians are seizing the property of Christians who have emigrated from the country;

reported on December 24, 2015 on the desecration of a Christian cemetery in Kirkuk, Kurdistan)

Iman Abdul Azis Majid (said in Erbil, Kurdistan on June 27, 2014 "We won't have a future here in Iraq—never. Now I want to emigrate to a European country. Now. At this moment")

Fr Immanuel Callo (on March 24, 2015 reported on outbreaks of chicken pox, lice, and scabies among the refugees from ISIL in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Inaam Isho Poulos (aged 36, killed in an ISIL mortar attack in August 2014 in Qaraqosh, her sister said "It was to be a wonderful day, she was to be engaged that day. But she was buried instead...perhaps a reason that she died [was that the] exodus began, just in time. Thousands of people were rescued by her death")

Intisar Mateh (refugee, spoke in Erbil on or before October 22, 2016 on the current offensive against ISIL "We are so happy, and hopefully we can go back home because we are not comfortable here. We feel stuck here, and there's nothing like being home")

Isaac Baho Daniel (aged 71, farmer, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014, said of his children "I am not in a position where I can offer them anything. I am now in the position where I need a hand from others. Christmas is not a feast if I am in Erbil...this land of our exile and diaspora")

Isaac Napoleon (brother and son killed by terrorists, said on December 15, 2013 in Doura suburb, Bagdad "I will leave whenever I can. Christians are finished here in Iraq")

Ishaq Lazar Gago (aged 45, mechanic, uncle of Zaid Qreqosh Ishaq, forced to flee the ISIL in Mosul under threat of death, as of July 22, 2014 is now a refugee in Irbil, Kurdistan, said "Our future is uncertain. Our house is now gone. They put it under their name and wrote 'Islamic State' on it")

Ismail Matti (aged 14, son of Jandar Nasi, unable to flee during the August 2014 ISIL takeover due to his mother's illness, imprisoned, forced to convert to Islam in Mosul, released, whipped when he did not attend mosque;

freed from ISIL control on or before November 16, 2016)

Iva Samaan (aged 25, son of Raad Bahnam Samaan, refugee in Ankawa, Kurdistan, engaged to be married as of August 9, 2016 but cannot obtain housing in the refugee camp to start his family)

Iwan Massieh (aged 22, as of April 6, 2015 supports Christians who have taken up arms with the militia in Al-Qosh)

Jalal (in December 2016 spoke of conditions in Karamles village "Everything is damaged. Houses have been burned by fire. There's no water, no anything. People will only return if there is some sort of promise of protection")

Fr Jalal Yako RCJ (returned to the country to persuade Christians to stay, decided after August 7, 2014 that the violence of the Islamic State [ISIL] in Qaraqosh required him to reconsider, said "everything has changed since the coming of Daesh [ISIL]. We should flee. There is nothing for us here";

spoke on March 3, 2016 on the conditions in his refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan "If you are not local, if you speak Arabic and not Kurdish, being accepted is hard. Language has become a factor of discrimination, higher prices, and refusal of medical care. This has also affected Christians. Even in my camp, Asthi One, home to families from Qaraqosh, Mosul, Bartella, the prevailing sentiment is one of fatigue...Those who did find accommodation in a house, now cannot pay the rent because there is no more money. Many have lost their job. Those who have work are not getting paid. Lately, I heard that 250 companies have gone bankrupt. Some construction sites have stopped, the work left unfinished...We celebrate Masses every day. People flock to church, devoutly observe Friday fasting, and participate in the Way of the Cross outdoors. We also recite the Angelus every day. Recently, with the help of an Italian parish, we built a bell tower to call the faithful to the services and give a visible sign of our presence, bearing witness to our faith")

Jameel (aged 11, son of Khalid and Hanaa, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on or before October 14, 2016 that he thinks of his father always, cried when his mother spoke about his father [who disappeared along with his father on August 10, 2014 during the ISIL takeover of Qaraqosh])

Jamil (husband of Aniseh Marqus for 57 years,, refugee in Alqosh as of March 9, 2017)

Fr Jamil Gorgis (said in Dohuk on September 17, 2016 "Almost all Christian refugees who come to my Church to pray would favor to live in a Christian region or province under international protection")

Fr Janan (monk, said in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan on January 15, 2015 "We fled from Bakhdida on August 6 [2014]. We even left our identity cards behind because everything had to go so quickly. We thought that the Kurdish fighters would protect us. However, when they suddenly pulled out, we dropped everything and fled")

Fr Janan Shamil Azeez (spoke on or before April 3, 2015 of the visit of papal envoy Cardinal Fernando Filoni to the refugee camps around Erbil for Easter “Everyone understands that they are not alone in their suffering; this helps them find the strength to endure the situation. Since the beginning of this tragedy, the refugees and the bishops have always asked not to be left alone...In our Eastern tradition, we never dwell upon to the cross. The cross is not a curse, but a tool of glory, which refers to the resurrection")

Jandar Nasi (mother of Ismail Matti, chronic migraine sufferer, unable to flee during the August 2014 ISIL takeover, imprisoned, forced to convert to Islam in Mosul, released;

freed from ISIL control on or before November 16, 2016)

Jemima (widow, mother of two daughters, reported on October 13, 2017 to have emigrated to the U.S. after her husband was martyred for Christ, converted)

Jeremiah Small (shot dead by one of his Muslim students in the classroom of a Christian school)

Jessica (aged 8, daughter of Sanaa Jumaa, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Johanna Towaya (described how the Kurdish Peshmerga militia assured Christians in Qaraqosh on August 7, 2014 the would defend them from ISIL and then abandoned them)

Johnson Siawesh (Kurdish Regional Government Minister of Transportation, on August 17, 2014 resigned in protest of the government's lack of action against ISIL and in providing assistance to tens of thousands of Christian refugees)

Fr Joseph (grandfather of Juliana George, on May 5, 2015 chased after his granddaughter's abductors in Bagdad)

Fr Jospeh Abdel Sater (aged 57, said in Alqosh on January 15, 2015 "Our church is on the border with the Islamic state [ISIL]...Here in Iraq the New Evangelization means being ready for martyrdom")

Joseph Warda (human rights activist, said of the December 23, 2016 attack on two liquor stores in Bagdad "What a bloody gift they gave us for Christmas")

Juliana George (aged 16, daughter of George, granddaughter of Fr Joseph, abducted in Bagdad on May 5, 2015;

released on May 13, 2015, US$55,000 ransom paid)

Fr Kais Mumtaz (said on June 14, 2014 in Kirkuk, Kurdistan "Everything seems to be leading towards a military management crisis only, i.e. towards civil war. And now this scares many Christians even more than the advance of the Islamists: the war makes no distinction between soldiers, terrorists and civilians. It strikes Christians, Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites in the same way")

Kalam (told in Mosul on August 28, 2013 of actions against Christian university students: “Teachers are saying bad things about Christianity in their lessons and participate in the discrimination and bullying also")

Dr Kamal Yusef (refugee, is planning to leave the country, said in Dohuk on December 27, 2014 "You have to change your religion to stay there")

Keldo Ramzi (secretary of the Chaldo-Assyrian Youth Union, spoke on December 28, 2013 on how Christians are targeted because “We are the weakest link in the Iraqi mosaic”)

Kenyas Jumaa (husband of Sittu Adam Qaysar, father of Sanaa and Asmar Jumaa, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Khairiya Dawood (mother of Shaza Malik, stabbed to death in a targeted robbery in al-Mashtal neighborhood, Bagdad on March 8, 2018)

Khalee Defareh (refugee, said in Irbil, Kurdistan on June 19, 2015 "The front door of the church was open and the father [Fr Douglas Bazi] took us in and accepted us. We have been here since then")

Khalid (husband of Hanaa, father of seven including Jameel, disappeared along with his father on August 10, 2014 during the ISIL takeover of Qaraqosh)

Kheder Abada (found his buried life savings of US$10,000 ruined by rain after returning to his home in Qaraqosh on or before November 29, 2016, following the expulsion of ISIL)

Khiria Al-Kas Isaac (aged 54, held by ISIL fighters in Qaraqosh with 46 other women, all were beaten and whipped for 10 days for repeatedly refusing to convert to Islam, had a sword held to her neck and told she would be beheaded if she refused to convert, replied “I am happy to be a martyr”, released on September 4, 2014 and expelled to Kurdish controlled territory, has had trouble sleeping)

Khudr Baham Anab (liquor store owner in Qaraqosh, said on October 4, 2017 "This is the most dangerous business as we are always targeted. If people see that I am here, that I came back and opened a liquor store, regular citizens will be reassured. They will think it is safe, although in reality it is not safe")

Fr Kyriakos Johanna (said on June 22, 2014 he will not be leaving Bartella to join his son in Germany)

Labib Rammo (aged 55, husband of Nedal Yousif, father of Taher, Maher, Myron, Marsen, Firas, Barbara, and Merna Rammo, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014, said "The time of exile was difficult, without a home, with broken affections and ties, a part of the family distant. Our routines and customs were upset, all this has created difficulties and made us feel like foreigners in our land. We have cultivated a vegetable garden. We have found our home, we want to add a room, our young children are growing up and are now have marriages of their own...We have to feel that this is our land and this is the place to witness the Christian faith today more ever...We have lost homes and property, but our faith has remained")

Laith Hadi Behnam (aged 57, mechanical expert, shot dead on January 29, 2014 in Mosul, Kurdistan reportedly for refusing to manufacturer silencers for firearms)

Lawrence Janan (police officer in Qaraqosh, said on October 4, 2017 "It's hard for Christians to go back to Mosul City, but here, at least, we were always a clear majority. We have to come to our areas. This is our land. If we don't watch over it, who will?")

Leila Aziz (wife of Imad Aziz, refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (concelebrated a Mass on December 16, 2012 in Kirkuk that was shaken by the terrorist bombing of two nearby mosques)

Lillian (sister of Rinam Mansour, reported on August 27, 2014 to have been displaced from her Alqosh home)

Lina (aged 57, fled Mosul for Alqosh after ISIL militants entered the city)

Lorita (daughter of Fatin Yousef, forced to attend Islamic classes at a university in Bagdad that denigrated Christianity, has as of September 10, 2013 fled the country with her mother)

Louay Jibrail (refugee, said in Irbil, Kurdistan on June 19, 2015 "There was so much life in our village [Qarakosh], we had everything in those days. Then one day there were terrorist

groups calling themselves Daesh [ISIL], or the Islamic State. They took our houses and our land, and they said either become a Muslim, or lock up your house and leave")

Louis Petrus (security guard, said on January 17, 2017 after a return to Qaraqosh "I don't understand how people can harm each other so much")

Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako (protested murders of Christians;

uninjured in a drive-by shooting;

presided over a day of prayer and fasting on September 21, 2012 involving over 150 young people in response to the detonation of a bomb in front of the Kikuk cathedral;

concelebrated a Mass on December 16, 2012 in Kirkuk that was shaken by the terrorist bombing of two nearby mosques;

elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church on February 1, 2013 in Rome, Italy;

reported on March 22, 2013 that only 57 Christian churches remain in the country, down from more than 300 ten years ago;

wrote on May 20, 2013 that recent car bombings are intended to divide the country, and that while Christians were not targeted in the recent attacks "...they are afraid and their exodus continues nevertheless";

on November 20, 2013 again called on Christians to not leave the country; said on December 14, 2013 in Rome, Italy of the continuing persecution of Christians "We feel forgotten and isolated. We sometimes wonder, if they kill us all, what would be the reaction of Christians in the West? Would they do something then?";

announced a campaign on March 10, 2014 to aid 1,000 families that have fled from terrorism in Fallujah to Bagdad;

appealed on July 1, 2014 from Bagdad for the release of the abducted nuns and orphans in Mosul;

published an essay on July 2, 2014 on "the situation in Iraq...Are we heading towards a civil war? God forbid, but everything seems to be pointing in that direction...We take this opportunity to renew our heartfelt thanks to all the people of good will, who are working on our behalf, and to all the faithful who are praying for us and who are close to us at this particularly difficult time";

reported on July 19, 2014 how the ISIL has demanded that Christians in Mosul convert, pay the jizya tax, or leave, said "cars equipped with loudspeakers are driving through the city, telling Christians to flee. At checkpoints, militias are seizing cars, money and papers from Christians, before letting them go...with nothing";

condemned the ISIL-Islamic State cleansing of Christians on July 23, 2014 from Bagdad "The heinous crime of the Islamic State was carried out not just against Christians, but against humanity. How in the 21st century could people be forced from their houses just because they are Christian, or Shi'ite or Sunni or Yazidi? Christian families have been expelled from their houses and their valuables were stolen and ...their houses and property expropriated in the name of the Islamic State. This has never happened in Christian or Islamic history. Even Genghis Khan or Hulagu didn't do this", 200 Muslims joined his church service and held up leaflets reading 'I am Iraqi, I am Christian';

said on August 11, 2014 “death and sickness are grabbing the children and elderly people among the thousands of refugee families spread over the Kurdistan region...The position of the American president, Obama, only to give military assistance to protect Irbil is

disappointing. The confirmation that this terrible situation will continue until the Iraqi Security Forces will fight along with Peshmerga against the ISIL militants is very depressing. At the end, perhaps, Mosul will not be liberated, neither the villages in the Nineveh Plain”, added that the refugees would be forced to stay in makeshift camps indefinitely;

visited with displaced Christians in Erbil on August 20, 2014 in the company of four other patriarchs;

spoke at a September 20, 2014 UN conference in Geneva, Switzerland and called on the UN to declare that a "genocide against Christians" is underway;

published a prayer on July 30, 2015 that he asked all Christians worldwide to pray on August 7, 2015: "Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us to pray to the Father in your name, and you assured us that whatever we asked for, we would receive. Therefore, we come to you with complete confidence, asking you to give us the strength to stand fast in this violent storm, to reach peace and security before it is too late";

asked all Iraqis to pray together on May 30, 2016, said "A prayer in the church, with women and men carefully listening the texts of our hymns and our Psalms will also help Muslims [who are in attendance] reflect. We need a new way of thinking, a new culture, and our Muslim brothers must update their thinking for the goodness and peace we invoke are for everyone";

in Bagdad on July 25, 2016 related his recent work with founding a Standing Committee for Dialog between the Chaldean Catholic Church and leaders of Shiite religious centers “With friendly frankness I told the Shiites that there can be no future unless the language of religious preaching is updated. I outlined briefly for them the experience of Christians : in the long run, without this updating people start to lose interest in religion. Preaching and dialogue must be concrete, it must take into consideration the present moment in time and real difficulties: before strictly academic and theological questions, we can begin to discuss social issues, including those of justice and recognition of human rights. These are the fields in which we must begin to search for shared solutions”;

reported in Bagdad on January 30, 2017 to have criticized any change in U.S. immigration policy that would give precedence to Christians over Muslims "Every reception policy that discriminates the persecuted and suffering on religious grounds ultimately harms the Christians of the East, because among other things provides arguments to all propaganda and prejudice that attack native Christian communities of the Middle East as 'foreign bodies', groups supported and defended by Western powers. These discriminating choices create and feed tensions with our Muslim fellow citizens. Those who seek help do not need to be divided according to religious labels. And we do not want privileges. This is what the Gospel teaches, and what Pope Francis pointed out, who welcomed refugees in Rome who fled from the Middle East, both Christians and Muslims without distinction";

issued a statement on May 13, 2017 that his church did not agree with the May 12, 2017 request for international protection by three other archbishops;

said at a September 28, 2017 conference in Rome, Italy "The referendum of Kurdistan, toward independence from Baghdad, is creating an escalation of tension between the two governments and we can almost hear the beats of war drums...Today, our people are living with fear of being engaged in another war, which means more chaos, more bloodshed, destruction and refugees. They are concerned about stability, security and worried about going back to live with daily crimes of robberies, gang rapes, torture and murder of Christians that has become so common...Everyone is waiting. What will happen tomorrow?

Will there be a new war or not? Will there be peace? They don't know. Everyone is waiting, waiting with fear, without certainty";

presided on December 24, 2017 over the first Christmas liturgy in Mosul in years, asked for prayers for "peace and stability in Mosul, Iraq and the world";

named to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis on May 20, 2018;

wrote a letter on July 31, 2018 to government officials and foreign diplomats which called for reforms including the disarming of sectarian militias)

Louis Yousif (law school graduate, businessman, as of October 4, 2017 has been building a bakery in Qaraqosh, said: "We need help to create the conditions for people to come back. The international community must stand with Iraqi Christians. We don't want money for our pockets. We need help to rebuild...We are stuck between the Kurdish Regional Government [KRG] and the central government in Baghdad unable to make our own decisions. They call us a disputed area, but in reality there are no Kurdish families here. That's why we were abandoned in the hands of ISIL without a single shot being fired")

Fr Luis Montes IVE (Argentine citizen, said in Bagdad on September 12, 2014 “The number of martyrs the Middle East is giving to the world is amazing. It is not well known but it will be in many years, and we will speak of them like we do of the acts of the martyrs of the early years of Christianity. The faith they have despite the persecution is moving, as well as their sensitivity towards others...Almost all the people I know in Iraq and in other countries of the Middle East know a family member killed out of hatred for the faith. Others have suffered direct persecution or discrimination. For us it is an honor to serve these people. Lord knows what He will ask of me in the future but as for me I would like to serve here my entire life”;

said on or before January 18, 2017 “Approximately 60 percent of the homes on the Nineveh Plains were burned down. The terrorists not only seized all of their belongings. They riddled the region with land mines, put bombs in with children’s toys. It is true that some people were able to return to their houses. However, they were only able to determine that they still exist. Because it is impossible to live there. The mines first need to be cleared out of the entire region. Only then can the villages be restored, and from the ground up. Everything still needs to be done, the people have nothing left...Despite everything, Iraqis have lost neither their smiles nor their hope”)

Archbishop Luis Shabi (reported on May 20, 2013 to have stated in Bagdad "We are not Arabs but Semitic. We've been speaking Aramaic in Mesopotamia since the times of Hammurabi. We are the grandsons of Abraham and of Nebuchadnezzar, but our future in Iraq does not go any further than tomorrow.")

Lujaim Hikmat Franci (killed in an August 4, 2014 ISIL bombardment of his Telkef church)

Sr Luma (fled Qaraqosh with 35 other nuns and an orphan girl ahead of the ISIL takeover in August 2014, said "We had only one choice: face death or leave")

Madi Salim (aged 60+, survived the mid 2014 ISIL takeover of Teleskof along with Sarya Matto, beaten with rifle butts, rescued by Kurdish fighters, still living in the abandoned town without utilities)

Maha Sallem Elsamak (mother of Essam Elsamak, grandmother of Ouday Imad, killed in a September 10, 2014 Bagdad market car bombing)

Maher (aged 23, adult child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Pastor Maher Fouad (along with a deacon survived unhurt an August 11, 2015 bombing of the Bagdad garage where he sought bus repairs, several others killed)

Majida Sabali (mother of Dima, Fadi and Nafa, refugee, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan, said "I have a strong faith...")

Maisaa Karam (wife of Munther, mother of Mariam, delivered her daughter in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan prior to December 18, 2014, had lost all four previous children to miscarriage)

Malik (speaking on August 28, 2013 in Mosul on the rising violence against Christian university students: "When the situation is very tense in the city, we still have to study. It has a negative influence on our grades, but the exams are not deferred")

Manal Matti (said on January 17, 2017 after a return to Qaraqosh "The jihadists used the church as a shooting range and the mannequins as targets. The mannequins are completely riddled! I do not know when I will ever be able to see the inhabitants of Qaraqosh coming again to my beauty salon")

Manhal Saad (husband of Umm Saad, fled Mosul after the ISIL takeover, found refuge in St Matthew Monastery near Bartella)

Maram (aged 7, daughter of Fade Yousif and Naghm Yousif Abdel Meseeh, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015)

Sr Maria Hann OP (wrote on December 2, 2014: "After four months of exile there are no signs of hope that the situation here in Iraq will be resolved peacefully. Unable to think or make decisions, everything is vague and we feel as if we have been living a nightmare. Christianity in Iraq is bleeding, so many families have left, and many are leaving to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, preparing themselves for second immigration and an uncertain future. We do not know how long these families will be able to tolerate the burden and survive financially...Many still are forced to stay in unfinished buildings on construction sites. In one place, a mall has been remodeled to accommodate families, with the hall divided merely with partitions. Although they are better than tents, they resemble dark, damp cages with no ventilation. Most difficult of all is the lack of privacy...Everyday we hope that tomorrow will be better, but our tomorrows seem to bring only more tears and hardship. 'Out of the depths we cry to thee, O Lord! When will you rescue us?' We desperately count on your prayers, and we need you carry us to Jesus like the men who brought the paralytic to Jesus")

Maria Polos (retired schoolteacher, said of the December 23, 2016 attack on two liquor stores in Bagdad "We fear getting killed like those in the alcohol shops. We feel we're aliens in this country")

Mariam (baby, daughter of Maisaa Karam and Munther, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014, bed has been made from a plastic bag)

Mariam (aged 29, teacher in Bagdad, said on December 25, 2015 "Christians who left Iraq don't wish to return and some of them are even nagging us to leave, saying that even if we make it through this ordeal, the next one will be the end of it")

Mariam Esso (aged 4, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Mariam Ishaq (aged 58, reported on December 6, 2017 to have said in Bahzani: “There is no stability. Our homes are destroyed. I don’t want to leave,” Ishaq said. “But what else can we do?”)

Mariana (wife of Rahhim, store in Sinaa, Bagdad car-bombed on June 24, 2013)

Marijam (alias, brother, reported on December 3, 2016 to have been crucified by ISIL after being told "We will crucify you like your dog, Jesus Christ")

Mariyam Petrayus (aged about 50, blind, reported on March 9, 2017 to have fled ISIL after living under their control in western Mosul for over two years, described an attempt by an ISIL member to convert her to Islam "He told me 'why don't you convert to Islam? Why are you Christian?' I told him that everyone is on their religion, and nobody leaves their religion...'I do not want to become one like you,' I told him. He asked 'why? What is wrong with me?' I told him 'you don't say your prayers, you kill humans, you earn haram [sinful] earning, and you harass people.' He said, 'me?' I said 'yes,' He said no. I said yes, 'I swear to God.'", was not harmed for her outspokenness)

Mark (aged 9, son of Mukhlis Yusef Yacoub, tied and dragged behind a car by ISIL fighters in Qaraqosh on August 6, 2014 when his father refused to convert to Islam, survived, escaped)

Marolin Sabri (aged 28, mother of three, refugee, reported on July 22, 2015 to have said in Kirkik, Kurdistan "I have to laugh. So many people have come from the government saying they will help us, but we are only surviving on the help from NGOs and the church...Our kids keep asking, 'When will we go home? It is like a prison for them")

Marsen (aged 21, adult child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Deacon Martin (seminarian, refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Martin Alqas (refugee, reported on March 15, 2016 to have said "My feeling is utter disappointment that the West has left us, everybody has left us. The West, with all its advanced technology, can finish ISIL. But they are delaying that due to political purposes which are unknown to us. We as Christians, and other minorities in Iraq, are facing extinction and we are paying the price")

Fr Martin Barni (aged 23, as a seminarian fled Karamlesh with the Eucharist on August 7, 2014 ahead of the ISIL advance;

as of October 24, 2016 has plans to rebuild schools and hospitals after the defeat of ISIL, said in Erbil "This is most important because it ensures our people can come back to their homeland and live in peace there once again. The liberation of the region is finally happening and the prospect of going home feels closer now than ever...We want to face our problems and solve them, not to escape from them. A people who have borne all these difficulties can never be broken";

said in Karamlesh on December 23, 2017 "Celebrating Christmas here is a message, that despite all the threats, persecution, killing and what we faced in Iraq, we have hope that this country will change. The last Christmas liturgy here was in 2013. Now, the cross is lifted again over the Church of St. Paul")

Rev Martin David (described the June 25, 2013 gunfire attack on St Mary Assyrian Catholic Church in Bagdad in which two security guards were wounded)

Marvin (aged 2, refugee, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Maryouma ('young girl', refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan, said reportedly on February 19, 2015 "Jesus will be with us no matter where we go")

Rev Massis Shahinyan (reported from Dohuk on June 13, 2014 that St Etchmiadzin Armenian

Church in Mosul has been attacked by al-Qaeda linked ISIL insurgents)

Marwan Butrus Jiji (attorney, favors more local autonomy, said on September 9, 2016 in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan of the return to peaceful governance after an ISIL defeat "I believe the process will fail if it is not led by the church. Our only hope is the church")

Mawj (aged 40, husband, father of two, life savings completely depleted in November 2017 by tribal claims made over a vehicular accident in which he was not at fault and no major injury resulted)

Mayada Abdul Rhani (mother, refugee in Alqosh, reported on November 4, 2015 to have said of Muslims "They recruit and train kids like mine to behead people. How could I ever live with those people? It was difficult to live with them before ISIL, now it's impossible")

Fr Maysar Bahnam (said in Bagdad on December 24, 2014 "The situation in our city is very difficult...We can't do anything outside the church")

Fr Mazen Ishoa aka Abuna Mazen (has resided in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan to minister to his flock, said on December 9, 2014 "I hold no grudge against the extremists. 'Love your enemies,' Jesus says. And the Bible is clear: 'If you follow Me, you will be persecuted'")

Mazen Samuel Ayoub (aged 57, fled his Mosul home during the June 10, 2014 ISIL takeover, lost all of his possessions at an ISIL checkpoint, told ‘Get out and leave the car. Nothing belongs to you anymore. You are running away from Mosul! You are running away! Where are you going to go? Wherever you go, we will follow you’)

Merna (aged 9, daughter of Fade Yousif and Naghm Yousif Abdel Meseeh, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015)

Merna Rammo (aged 4 months, child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been born a refugee)

Michael (computer scientist, son of Dominique, said on June 22, 2014 that he doubts that Canada or the U.S. will allow them asylum “We see that they give passports to Muslim terrorists and accept homosexuals who say they have been discriminated against and yet they refuse us entry”)

Bishop Michael Pola Muqadissi (presided over a September 12, 2014 Mass to welcome the return of 75% of the residents of Alqosh after the defeat of ISIL by Kurdish forces;

said on May 27, 2015 the majority of Christians do not want to immigrate;

said after the leaders of one Orthodox and two Catholic churches signed an agreement in Erbil, Kurdistan on March 27, 2017 to join together to support the rebuilding of the Christian presence in the country in the form of 12,000 new homes: "Today we have given our agreement to the rebuilding of the houses in our ruined villages. This is a brave step forward which gives us great joy and encourages the Christians to remain in their villages and in their own country")

Mikha Qasha (elderly, wheelchair bound, reported on August 22, 2014 to have been given one week by ISIL to convert to Islam or be killed, taken from Qaraqosh to Kurdish territory by a friend, reunited with his grandson in Ankawa)

Mina Faris (elementary school student, forced to take a Mosul school exam on Christmas Day 2012)

Mirna Fadi (aged 9, refugee, on April 6, 2015 said of life in the refugee camp in Erbil "We want to live in a healthy and clean place. There are so many diseases spreading here. There are bugs everywhere, and some of us have scabies")

Sr Miskintah (disappeared in Mosul on June 28, 2014;

released on July 14, 2014, has returned to Kurdistan)

Fr Miyassir (said in an Advent homily prior to December 23, 2014 in Bagdad "We are becoming fewer in number. We ask God that we can keep our churches, keep our country. We have a message that people should stay in this country" but later privately admitted "Even my family is leaving")

Fr Mokhlasee (spoke in Bagdad on December 23, 2014 concerning the Christian exodus from the country "If it stays this way we will shrink to nothing. We believe that God wants us here for diversity in the region. Unfortunately, people are afraid of the future, and they are leaving")

Morteza Ablahad (clergy, reported on January 21, 2015 to have been executed by ISIL in Mosul)

Mrayma Mansour (disc jockey, wanted international protection against ISIL, said in Alqosh on October 27, 2014 "If this doesn't happen I will get my passport, family and try to go to another country because it won't be safe")

Muhammed (convert, husband of Sanar, customs official, reported on October 13, 2017 to have been killed by his family after refusing to renounce his conversion)

Mukhlis Yusef Yacoub (aged 37, father of Mark, beaten by ISIL fighters in Qaraqosh on August 6, 2014 when he refused to convert to Islam, blinded in one eye, escaped)

Munira Aziz (aged 74, fled Mosul to Sulemaniyah before August 20, 2014 after hearing gunfire believed to be the killing of Christians, said "Please, tell the world what is happening. Please tell the world we just want to go home. We just want to live, we just want to be safe.")

Munther (husband of Maisaa Karam, father of Mariam, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014)

Fr Muyessir al-Mukhalisi (said in west Bagdad on March 29, 2016 that his people were "threatened with extinction...This is a harsh word but every day we are being depleted. Our people are travelling, migrating")

Myriam ('young girl', refugee from Qaraqosh in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan, said reportedly on February 19, 2015 "We used to have a house and were entertained, whereas here we are not. But thank God. God provides for us: God loves us and wouldn't let ISIL kill us...I will only ask God to forgive them")

Myron (aged 22, adult child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Nabela Salim (mother of Marvin, refugee, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Nabil Omiesh (Bible Society of Iraq program director, reported on October 13, 2017 on the stories of Muhammed, Sanar, and Jemima)

Fr Nabil Yako (spoke fatalistically in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 concerning the possibility of an attack on his church)

Nadar Eleya (aged 30, fled Karamless on August 16, 2014 after the ISIL takeover)

Nadeen Nabil (aged 20, local resident in Ainkawa, said on September 29, 2014 "Jesus saved us and he will always save us. No matter what happens, we will never let go of our Christ...Our suffering will end eventually. But no matter what happens to us, we will be more attached to our religion, have more faith in it, and never let it go")

Nadia Younis Butti (fled her home in Mosul on July 17, 2014 due to ISIL

returned to her home after the defeat of ISIL, said “It is still extremely dangerous in Mosul. I just spoke to a police officer who lost a colleague this week. He was shot at night. A lot of Mosul’s inhabitants collaborated with ISIL for three years, and some might have relatives or family members who were even part of ISIL. There are a lot of Sunnis who have supported ISIL...The city was liberated by the Iraqi army, which is supported by many Iranian Shiites. In Mosul, they are met with a lot of distrust: they aren’t seen as allies. For me, the city has not become safe since its recapture...I can’t believe my eyes when I see what ISIL has done to my church. I remember sitting here, in the midst of my friends when the Liturgy was served very well. I remember being on the square outside with all the parishioners and using the rooms for meetings: the women in the rooms on the left, the men on the right. Thinking about that time saddens me deeply...After the turn of the century, it was already getting worse for Christians in Mosul. In 2008 and 2009, Christians began to be threatened, abducted and killed for their faith. I received a letter once that said I had to pay, or I would pay with my life. A well-known priest was abducted and slaughtered. His body was found in pieces...When I just looked up, I suddenly felt intense happiness. I saw that the blue dome with Jesus’ image had survived the occupation of ISIL reasonably well. Not not much of its beauty has remained, but the image shows how beautiful this church was. The jihadists have only been able to destroy the edges of the picture. Seeing Jesus above me gave me great joy”)

Nafa (child of Majida Sabali, as of December 23, 2015 will be celebrating a second Christmas in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Naghm Yousif Abdel Meseeh (wife of Fade Yousif, mother of Merna and Maram, refugee in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan as of November 2, 2015, said "Even if the situation in Iraq gets better, no matter how safe it is, there's no guarantee it won't happen again. We love the land, but the land doesn't love us")

Najib (aged 75, husband of Dalal, couple unable to flee ISIL due to age and illness, forced at gunpoint to flee from Baghdede on August 7, 2014, feet injured from walking, may have gangrene)

Najiba (wife, refugee near Duhok as of June 9, 2016 along with her husband)

Namrud Elyas Hanna (aged 52, said in Ankawa, Kurdistan on December 29, 2014 "I want to go back home today. But we can’t. We’re so frustrated here, so hopeless. Our villages are destroyed, our homes are burnt. Living here is too hard")

Nassir (aged 50, militia member in Al-Qosh as of April 6, 2015)

Naurad Youssif (aged 41, postal worker, stated on December 28, 2013 that Christians are being bought out of their homes in the Ankawa district, Erbil city, Kurdistan “They are building new, very expensive apartment towers that nobody here will be able to afford. Christians here are a poor community and those apartments will not be for us”)

Nawar (aged 25, pharmacist in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on September 1, 2014 to have bought a wheelchair for a 90-year old refugee woman)

Nazar Elias Jaji Al Kas Putrus (grocery store owner, shot dead in Basra on October 26, 2016 because he held a liquor license)

Nedal Yousif (aged 46, wife of Labib Rammo, mother of Taher, Maher, Myron, Marsen, Firas, Barbara, and Merna Rammo, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Archbishop Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf (reported on March 22, 2015 to have wept when he said in

Erbil, Kurdistan "I think they [ISIL] burn all the books. And we have books from the first century of the Christianity. They take everything from us, but they cannot take the God from our hearts, they cannot";

said in Strasbourg, France on or before June 2, 2016 "We Syrians, are the original inhabitants of this land, then we became a minority and now we are merely refugees in our own country. Christians are cheap people, you can kill them, they count for nothing...the demon first attacks the families to destroy people and the church";

said in Erbil, Kurdistan on or before August 20, 2016 of the result of the ISIL takeover “For the first time in the history of Christianity, there are no Christians praying in Mosul. Even under the Mongol hordes and Hulagu Khan [in the 13th century] it wasn’t so bad”;

reported on December 4, 2016 to have been denied a visa to visit the United Kingdom to speak about Christian persecution;

said after the leaders of one Orthodox and two Catholic churches signed an agreement in Erbil, Kurdistan on March 27, 2017 to join together to support the rebuilding of the Christian presence in the country in the form of 12,000 new homes: "We are the roots of Christianity. We must remain in our country. We must remain as witnesses to Jesus Christ in this country, in Iraq and especially in the Plains of Nineveh. This task of rebuilding all the houses in those villages where ISIS has destroyed everything is truly an enormous challenge. Thank you in advance to all those who will help us";

said in Erbil, Kurdistan in March 2017 "Those people [ISIL supporters in Europe] are the same ones who came here many years ago. And we accepted them. We are the original people in this land. We accepted them, we opened the doors for them, and they push us to be minorities in our land, then refugees in our land. And this will be with you if you don’t wake up. If you don’t wake up please tell us because we have caravans [house trailers for refugees]. When we go back to our villages, we won’t sell those caravans, we’ll leave them for you when you become refugees from your [Western] country. Believe me, this will be")

Nisan Hekmat (refugee, stranded after airspace over Erbil, Kurdistan hads been closed to commercial aviation for 48 hours beginning December 7, 2015, said “They told me that travel is delayed for 48 hours. In Iraq this is not unusual. In other countries it may be different but here it’s ‘normal’ to hear good news and bad news all at the same time...It is difficult for us all. Friends and family came to say goodbye and now the journey has been put on hold. We have everything packed and we’ve given away things like rice and oil that other families will need”)

Nissan Botros (husband of Bernadette, refugee in Ainkawa, Erbil, Kurdistan along with his children and grandchildren, said on December 24, 2015 that his family told the ISIL terrorists when they called from their home "Sit back then and make yourselves comfortable. But know that God will bring all this to judgement!”)

Fr Nizar Semaan (reported on the July 20, 2014 ISIL takeover of the Mar Behnam Monastery near Qaraqosh;

commented on October 16, 2014 on the destruction of crosses and ancient manuscripts by ISIL at the Mar Behnam Monastery near Qaraqosh "Anything can happen with the terrorists of the Islamic State. They will destroy everything, if not stopped")

Noeh (aged 12, returned to his home in Karamles on or before March 23, 2017 after more than 2 years as a refugee, found that ISIL arsonists had completed gutted it)

Noel Youssef (abducted on May 4, 2014 in Hawaigat Hosan, Nineveh province, released on May 5, 2014)

Nour Faleh (aged 12, refugee in Bagdad as of December 25, 2014)

O S (said on November 16, 2014 that his house was looted by Kurdish militia after they drove out ISIL forces from Telsqof, said most Christians now want to leave the country)

Oneil (son of Samer and Amira, refugee in Al-Qosh as of April 6, 2015)

Ouday Imad (aged 3, grandson of Maha Sallem Elsamak, nephew of Essam Elsamak, killed in a September 10, 2014 Bagdad market car bombing)

Fr Paul Thabit Mekko (on July 23, 2014 described an ISIL attack on Tilkif, Kurdistan and the fearful reaction of the Christians refugees;

spoke in Erbil, Kurdistan on May 2, 2015 about government planning to defeat ISIL "We heard about the meeting among the Ministers and we were also told that the preparation of the operations will be led by a Kurdish soldier of the Iraqi army. But it is not possible to say if and when the campaign to liberate Mosul and the Nineveh Plain will begin. We have to see if and how it will take account of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month that begins after mid-June. Of course, many want to go back to their homes. Among the Christian refugees there are those who in the meantime have moved to Jordan or Lebanon. Only a few went to France, and some have also returned. It is not true that everyone wants to flee. Many dream of returning to their life as it was before";

returned to his church in Karemlash, Hamdaniyah district, outside Mosul on October 27, 2016 after ISIL had been driven out "I can't describe my joy. My hopes have been realized. "I always held onto hope that we would return - and today it came true")

Fr Petros (ordained in Aishty 2 camp, Erbil, Kurdistan on August 5, 2016)

Msgr Pius Qasha Khoury (reported on the September 1, 2014 murder of Fadi Nabil Ibrahim Abbush)

Pritcha (aged 3, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Fr Qais Kage (said on June 11, 2014 of events after the fall of Mosul to the ISIL “What happened in Mosul is significant: such a big city cannot fall in a few hours without support from within. The chaos and political division of the Country, due to sectarian conflicts, promotes the advance of the militants who have come from outside: the Iraqi army has left everything in their hands...Today Kurdish militias have made some maneuvers around the city [Kirkuk, Kurdistan], to deter possible attacks...We have suspended catechism and activities with young people for safety reasons, but the churches are open. In this month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate Mass every day and pray asking the Lord to save us from new outbreaks of sectarian violence")

Quais Abdul Shaya (reported on July 10, 2015 to have been abducted in Bagdad, murdered despite payment of a US$25,000 ransom)

Raad Bahnam Samaan (husband, father of five including Iva, refugee for 2 years in Ankawa, Kurdistan, said on August 9, 2016 "There is always hope, but when? Nobody knows. It might be a year, two years, a day, a couple of days. Three or four years from now if we go home there won't be anything left of our house...The boys are growing up, how can I secure their future?", added that the end of ISIL may not improve his situation with Iraqi Muslims "We'll still be afraid. I will go to Mosul and I will be afraid because they will say, here comes the Christian")

Raad Mekha (aged 26, church security guard, shot in the leg on June 25, 2013 in Bagdad, hospitalized and released)

Bishop Rabban al-Qas (spoke on September 23, 2013 in Amadiyah-Zakho, Kurdistan on the

assassination attempts on two Christian lawmakers and the bomb attacks on a Sunni mosque and a Shia funeral that killed 91 and wounded at least 221: "Foreign Islamist groups want the instability of Iraq. Their objectives are primarily political and religious. Their actions are meant to unleash chaos between communities";

called on August 19, 2014 for Western military support, including mine disposal experts, to aid the Kurdish military against the ISIL militants, added "another 5,000 terrorists are ready to enter Iraq from Turkey to fight the jihad. As scary such reports are, Christians are still alive and despite losing their material possessions, they should not lose hope";

criticized the Iraqi parliament on November 3, 2015 for failure to amend a law that forces all children under 18 of one parent who converts to Islam to become Muslim without their consent and without the legal recourse to leave Islam)

Rabia Soran (aged 37, veterinarian, refugee, manages refugee housing in an uncompleted mall in Ankawa, Kurdistan as of December 29, 2014)

Rachel (elderly woman, fed and protected in Mosul by her Muslim neighbors along with nine other elderly Christians, all were forced to flee after refusing ISIL demands to convert to Islam, spent two days in the cold no-man's land between ISIL and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters before being rescued on January 7, 2015 and brought to Kirkuk)

Raeda Paulos (refugee, spoke in Erbil on or before October 22, 2016 on the current offensive against ISIL "We are scared, in case it doesn't go back to normal when they clear the area. Daesh [ISIL] has been there for two years, maybe there are explosives, IEDs or bombs. So we are in a wait-and-see mode right now")

Radi Yusef (husband of Hana, father, fled on July 1, 2014 from the ISIL militants to Alqosh)

Raed Salman (aged 45, truck driver, reported on August 27, 2014 to have been displaced from his Alqosh home)

Rafael Aichoa (in two separate incidents found the bodies of his murdered brother and parents in late 2012, as of August 22, 2013 will be emigrating to Australia)

Raghd Al-Aswad (wife of Adwer Al-Aswad, refugee from Mosul in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on May 14, 2017 that she will have to leave their apartment and return to the refugee camp to live in a shipping container "We call it the cemetery. It looks like dead bodies stacked side by side with a giant hospital sheet on top of them")

Raghda Adel (fiancée of Essam Elsamak, killed in a September 10, 2014 Bagdad market car bombing)

Raghad Elia (shot dead)

Rahaf (baby, twin sister of Rose Emanuel Rafael, refugee in a tent in winter [in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014])

Rahhim (husband of Mariana, store in Sinaa, Bagdad car-bombed on June 24, 2013)

Fr Rami Wakim (newly ordained, said on August 20, 2014 of the Christian refugees in Erbil "The people are angry because the government just gave up on them. They told us that, in Mosul, where there had normally been a presence of 60,000 soldiers, after the onslaught of ISIL, in only a matter of hours, these soldiers abandoned them, laying down their weapons", added “People look up to priests and bishops as the only solution, the only help they can get at a time where — of course we need to pray with them — but at this time prayer alone doesn’t seem enough and actions are required”)

Ramy (aged 22, refugee, stranded after airspace over Erbil, Kurdistan had been closed to

commercial aviation for 48 hours beginning December 7, 2015, said “It’s difficult for me to smile any more, but I want to, because I believe in goodbyes with a smile instead of with tears”)

Ramy Youssef (IT technician, as of June 29, 2014 has plans on leaving the country after fleeing Bagdad for Erbil, Kurdistan due to death threats "I don't want to leave. I don't want these terrorists to do what no one's ever done before: push Assyrians out of our historic homeland, but I can't work like this...This is America's fault. It's the Muslims who are killing us, but this never would have happened if the West hadn't turned our lives upside down")

Rana (aged 31, wife of Diyaa, captured by ISIL on August 22, 2014 in Qaraqosh, reported in September 2014 on the whereabouts of Christina Khidr Ebada and Rita, possibly sold into slavery)

Rana Behnam Isso (freed on August 28, 2017 from ISIL captivity by the Iraqi military near Tel Afar, returned to her family)

Randi (seminarian, refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan, said "ISIL has strengthened our vocation. It is fortunate that the people have survived. That shows me that God is a God of life and not of property and objects. God is taking care of us")

Br Raseed (survived a collision of his taxi with a U.S. armored vehicle outside Bagdad in 2003 or 2004 in which the driver and another monk were killed, hospitalized in a coma;

fled his monastery in Qaraqosh during the ISIL takeover in August 2014;

as of September 27, 2016 has led religious services in his refugee camp in Kasnazan, Erbil, Kurdistan in the absence of priests, said of his vocation “But I don’t have to be anything supernatural. I just have to be here with the people in the church because God needs me to be here...It is all about Jesus. Jesus is the core, He is the Rock we build on. And whatever might happen, our Rock will never disappear. He will always be here”)

Rawan Jinan (aged 25, wife, mother of two boys aged 4 and 18 months, forced to flee the ISIL in Mosul under threat of death, as of July 23, 2014 is now a refugee in Ayn Kawa, Kurdistan, described ISIL acts of intimidation in churches, added "They did not only enter the churches. They also went into the shrine of Prophet Younis [the Old Testament prophet Jonas], which they demolished. They also demolished monasteries", also described the looting of their possessions "They opened the can of baby milk and poured its contents into the street. We begged them to give us a bottle of water for the children, to quiet them, but they opened the water bottles and poured out the water in front us")

Rayan al-Kildani (described a December 23, 2016 attack on two liquor stores in Bagdad, said 8 Christians and one Yazidi were killed;

said after the March 8, 2018 murder of Dr Hisham Shafiq al-Maskuni and his family "This crime has only one message. Frightening our people and forcing them to leave the country")

Fr Rayan Atto (assisted at a refugee camp in Ankawa suburb, Erbil, Kurdistan on June 27, 2014, said "This is the last wave. Qaraqosh was the second city for Christians after Ankawa, and now they are here. Think about it")

Remi Marzina Momica (seminarian, refugee, had been injured along with his sister in a bus bombing in 2010, at his request will be ordained to the diaconate on March 19, 2016 in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan, three other refugee seminarians have joined in the request)

Fr Rian (refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, said on October 6, 2014 "What we are living is the last chapter of an ancient story")

Rimon (aged 33, son of Silvia, reported on December 6, 2017 to have died of untreated cancer in February 2017)

Rinam Mansour (aged 30, brother of Lillian, teacher, reported on August 27, 2014 to have been displaced from his Alqosh home)

Rita (aged 18, captured by ISIL on August 22, 2014 in Qaraqosh while attempting to rescue her elderly father, sold into slavery in September 2014)

Rita (aged early 20's, described the May 3, 2016 ISIL attack on Telskuf "My village was under the control of the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters until two days ago. ISIS drove in using a booby-trapped digger truck. In order to get through the fortified defenses, the digger first removed what blocked its path and then it just blew up, killing lots of Peshmerga fighters. My relatives were slightly injured in the blast", ISIL then flooded the town with 20 explosive-laden automobiles and fighters with suicide vests, and were attacked by American and Kurdish forces: "They fought for two days to win back our village and succeeded but what they found was a village in ruins...I can't sleep well. I have nightmares about ISIL. I keep thinking 'what if they manage to get to us while we sleep'. I feel the pain won't go away and that I'll never feel safe")

Rita Ayyoub (aged 30, recounted on or before March 20, 2018 the 2015-2017 ISIL occupation of the Nineveh plain, said of her first captor [who had also bought a 14 year old Yezidi girl "He raped the both of us over and over again", later sold twice more: "I was beaten and tortured by [the jihadi's wife] every day. She would not give up until I was bleeding, from my head, for example. They made me read the Quran and threatened to kill me if I did not convert to Islam", rescued by Syrian military in November 2018)

Riven Nafe (engineer in al-Qosh on April 21, 2015)

Fr Roni Salim Momika (ordained in Aishty 2 camp, Erbil, Kurdistan on August 5, 2016, said "We left Qaraqosh during this time two years ago [during the ISIL attack]", will continue to serve in the camp;

spoke in Erbil on October 25, 2016 on the liberation of the towns of Bartella and Qaraqosh by the Iraqi army "Yesterday the priests, they entered the church in Bartella and they saw everything was dark, because ISIS burned everything" and "Qaraqosh is liberated. [ISIL] made a big, deep hole [climbed in and] bombed themselves...There are a lot of places destroyed, and ISIL burned our church and ISIS broke all our crosses that were above the churches. It's difficult for us because it's our history. It's a big church in the Middle East, in Qaraqosh")

Ronnie Hanna (waterpipe merchant, Mosul shop confiscated by ISIL insurgents on July 10, 2014)

Rose Emanuel Rafael (baby, twin sister of Rahaf, refugee in a tent in winter [in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014], has cancer, unable to get urgent treatment)

Rostom Sefarian (aged 63, recounted on December 28, 2013 from Erbil city, Kurdistan the beatings and attempted forced conversion to Islam he suffered during his 2006 abduction, that and his 2005 abduction cost his family US$84,000 in ransom, wife's cousin also abducted but found dead)

Rwaa (fled her Qaraqosh home after the ISIL takeover, said on August 8, 2014 "We fled last night, actually at 3 a.m. in the morning. We were at home when someone came and told us to, 'Leave! Leave!' We left with our clothes only. We didn't even take our passports. And we have no place to go because no one wants us here. They took everything from us... They

took the women. They raped them. They are selling them. For God Sakes, they are selling them! What century are we?")

Saad Behnam Batous (found his home in Qaraqosh filled with chemical fumes on or before November 29, 2016 after returning following the expulsion of ISIL, had been a bomb factory)

Saad Matti (elementary school student, said that his Mosul teachers always schedule exams on Christian holidays)

Saad Georgis (son of David George, hearing and speech impaired, reported on August 25, 2014 to have died of starvation in Bashiqa after three weeks of ISIL occupation)

Saad Salioh Namaat (killed in Bagdad on September 27, 2015)

Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna (abducted after saying the Divine Liturgy on August 15, 2006;

released on September 11, 2006;

led Easter Holy Qurbana on March 31, 2013 at St Joseph Chaldean Church in Bagdad;

ordained bishop on January 24, 2014;

said in Bagdad on June 18, 2014 that Christians are fleeing in the face of the ISIL insurgent advance, others are stocking up necessities, also stated that the insurgency is preventing bishops from travelling to a synod scheduled for later this month)

Saad Touma (is preparing as of August 22, 2013 to leave for Turkey on his way to emigrate to Europe, had been abducted and released for ransom in 2008)

Sabah (nurse, as of June 20, 2014 has fled Mosul for refuge in the Mar Mattai Syrian Orthodox monastery)

Sabrina Yousef (mother, refugee, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 that the children "don't really understand what is happening in their villages" after the ISIL takeover)

Safa Jamel Bahnan (airport truck driver, refugee from Qaraqosh, as of October 6, 2014 is living in his sister's home in Erbil, Kurdistan with 30 other relatives, said "After being here for more than a millennium, this is the Christians' last stand in Iraq. Over the centuries, we have faced the sword so many times for our beliefs. In two, three, four years Christians will not be here because Daesh {ISIL] kill us. We will probably be living in the U.S., Canada or Australia. Otherwise, we will be erased from this Earth")

Sahar Karaikos (student at Saint Matthew Monastery, Al-Faf, said on May 27, 2015 "We are not scared, because our teachers give us a feeling of peace here, but we know we are on the frontlines, and in seconds the Islamic State could be here. I don't even want to think or speak about the destruction the Islamic State would cause if they took our monastery")

Sahar Mansour (aged 40, professor of chemistry, refugee camp resident outside Erbil, said on August 12, 2014 “Christians find Ankawa a safe place to stay, but some say that it is not good solution that we are all living here because it is an easy target for ISIL to attack...The Christians are homeless. There are no places for them — only sitting in the churches, parks, streets, in this heat of sun. A lot of people are sick: elderly, infants and pregnant women sitting under the sun, and they cannot catch their breath. People are dying because of the shortage of medicine, water and food...We are facing risk a real genocide and a human catastrophe. We need protection. Please save our lives, we cannot stay in this country anymore”;

reported on the August 16, 2014 defiance of Ghazala Elyas and the other elderly Christians in Karamless to ISIL;

said on December 18, 2014 "Iraqi Christians cannot put their life before their faith, The word 'martyr' literally means 'witness', and this is what we have dared to be. So if the purpose of being a Christian is to spread the Word, then the highest calling of Christianity is to die for the Word of God. Martyrdom is not the end for the soul of the martyrs or for the society they leave behind. Christian faith is a fact that is alive and operative, making us people who look for the meaning of their lives, people who are prophets and witnesses for that meaning. Iraqi Christians are capable of adding meaning to life, in spite of all the contradictions that emerge because of life's complexities and problems...Faith is a gift from God. Faith is commitment, not a mere point of view. We believe in God as a fact, and are committed to our faith deeply and out of the core of our existence. Iraqi Christians are fully aware that Christianity has been under sustained attack from the moment of its birth, our Church in Iraq is a witness and martyr to this, and 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians'";

wrote in Erbil, Kurdistan on July 22, 2015 "When you talk to Fr Bashar, you notice that he is fatigued, exhausted. You can easily notice the bitterness in Fr Bashar's face or in his voice, but he works with total dedication. He always says that we are created in order to work, that we are soldiers of Christ, that we want to cultivate love and peace, that we want future generations to live better than we lived, and that we do not want to inherit the culture of violence")

Saher Hanna (Interior Ministry employee, abduction victim, found dead in Bagdad on July 8, 2015 despite a ransom having been paid)

Said Jalal (aged 31, Zayuna refugee camp volunteer in Bagdad, said on December 25, 2015 "Christmas is in our hearts religiously, but I am depressed because it is not the same socially. Most of my family and acquaintances are either displaced or have left")

Salam Ablaha (aged 36, grocer, refugee along with his extended family of 36 since August 2014, brother abducted and ransomed in 2007, reported on April 14, 2017 to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan "None of us want to go back. We're still scared of what will happen after ISIL...Before 2003, we had a perfect life. I never thought about leaving. But we're a minority. We don't have support or someone to protect us. Christians are now waiting to go to Jordan and from there to Australia. Seventy per cent of the people from Hamdaniya have already left Iraq...By 2020, most Christians will have left Iraq")

Salam Kihkhwa (aged 28, injured in a 2010 student bus bombing in Mosul, spoke on June 27, 2014 about his fears of an impending ISIL attack due to heavy fighting just outside Qaraqosh "If the Peshmerga [Kurdish militia] withdraw, Qaraqosh will be obliterated. The ISIS [aka ISIL] will turn our city into hell")

Fr Salar Boudagh (aged 35, said on May 18, 2017 “We have begun rebuilding work in Telleskof and Bakofa, because the damage to the houses is not too serious, unlike in Badnaya, where 80% of the houses have been destroyed...Before the arrival of ISIL there were 1,450 families living in Telleskof, 110 in Bakofa, 950 in Badnaya, over 700 in Telkef and 875 in Karamless. For these families the first precondition for returning to their villages is security. Our area, the eastern part of the Nineveh plains, is patrolled by a Christian security force, the Zeravani, who can give us a 100% guarantee of security. They are an official militia who are paid a salary by Kurdistan...[The second condition is the financial resources. The almost 13,000 houses that now need rebuilding, following the ravages of ISIL, have been divided according to the] coefficient of damage...It costs 7000 dollars to refurbish a home that has been lightly damaged. To repair a house that has been burned out costs 25,000 , to rebuild a house that has been totally destroyed costs 65,000 dollars")

Fr Salar Kajo (said on or before October 16, 2017 "We hope very much that - in spite of the

violence we have just seen - a peaceful path will be pursued between the Kurds and the Iraqi federal authorities. We must pray that, whatever happens, war does not break out. If full-scale war were to return to Iraq, we are afraid that Christians would not survive it";

said on March 19, 2018 "We have to rebuild now - if we take more time families will leave and Christianity will disappear from Iraq...It is urgently necessary for everyone to return to their towns and villages...After a year of rebuilding, the only channel of aid has been through the Church")

Salem Dawood Coca (aged 62, abducted May 27 2013, found dead in his truck on July 8, 2013 in Betnaya, the truck had been wired with explosives which led to speculation that he was killed when he refused to be forced into a bombing)

Salem Matti Kourki (aged 43, beaten to death on September 1, 2014 in Bartala by ISIL militants after refusing to convert to Islam)

Salim Kako (politician, said on December 28, 2013 in the Ankawa district, Erbil city, Kurdistan “Christians are not very brave here. Yes, there are problems to solve, but this doesn’t mean we should leave this country. We cannot look for the shadow all our life. We have to go under the sun and fight for our rights”)

Deacon Salim Qoda (Alqosh resident)

Salim Toma (former member of parliament, said on July 21, 2014 in Erbil, Kurdistan "First the massacre of the Christians must be stopped, and then like other people we should have a place to live. Unfortunately, there has not been a serious position [toward the Christians]. Only the Kurdistan Regional Government has opened the door and embraced them. Checkpoints are open for them, schools have become shelters for the Christians, many local NGOs are assisting, too")

Salma Lewis (murdered, body found in Bagdad on August 26, 2015)

Salwan Mochtar (aged 38, father of Daniel and Zachi, refugee for over a year as of October 21, 2015)

Salwan Noel Miskouni (aged 35, forced to flee the ISIL-Islamic State in Mosul with his family under threat of death, as of July 23, 2014 is now a refugee in Irbil, Kurdistan, said "If [the Islamic State] leaves we will probably go back but if they stay it's impossible - because they will slaughter us")

Sama Elias Albeer (aged 9, sister of Samir, schoolgirl, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014)

Samanta Nona (aged 2, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Sr Samar Barkho (said on September 29, 2014 in Ainkawa "Difficulty gives me strength, gives me more belief in God because God exists through every situation", asked that Americans pray for Iraq's Christians)

Samar Hana (aged 34, sister of Sara Hana, mother of two boys including a four month old, refugee from Bartella, as of September 18, 2014 is living in an uncompleted concrete building in Ainkawa, children have respiratory problems due to unsanitary conditions)

Samer (husband of Amira, father of Oneil, refugee in Al-Qosh as of April 6, 2015)

Samer Jajjo (aged 27, husband, father of two, paint shop employee, stabbed to death in front of his home in Naeeriya district, Bagdad on February 25, 2018)

Samir (brother of Sama Elias Albeer, schoolboy, refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan as of December 18, 2014, asked for a bicycle for Christmas so he could ride home and rescue his guitar from

the terrorists)

Samir Abdul-Samad (described on November 20, 2014 how he lost his official documents when he fled Mosul in mid-July 2014)

Samir Bassem (aged 9, refugee in Bagdad as of December 25, 2014)

Samir Bihnam (aged 46, refugee, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 of Christmases past and present "It was all first-class food, and clothes. The church was beautiful and it was full of happiness. Now it is full of sadness. You can't see the friends you used to know. They are either dead or have left the country...We believe everything in the world has a beginning and an end. But not in Iraq. There is no end")

Fr Samir Yousif Al-Khoury (with winter coming has appealed as of October 15, 2015 for aid for 3,500 refugees in his care in Amadiya-Dohuc, Kurdistan;

wrote on November 23, 2016 "...For our part, we are living in great expectation, waiting to discover how the battles against the Islamic State [ISIL] will end. The Iraqi troops are advancing and are now close to the city of Mosul. The Nineveh Plain is almost entirely liberated, but unfortunately the churches are largely burned and many houses were destroyed...How so many people were killed, decapitated. How in every neighborhood a house was converted by the militiamen into a prison where the women were sex slaves of the militiamen. Several mass graves have been discovered, and in one of these the bodies of about 200 people were found. Among them were women and children. Only the Lord knows what else the ISIL jihadists did in the city of Mosul...")

Sr Sanaa Hana (said in Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan on January 15, 2015 "Our sisters were just able to consume the Blessed Sacrament before they fled [Mosul]. They did not want it to fall into the hands of the jihadists", returned to Mosul with volunteers to retrieve church documents "I did not want to make anyone go with me. It was very dangerous, after all. Other nuns have been kidnapped by ISIL")

Sanaa Jumaa (daughter of Kenyas Jumaa and Sittu Adam Qaysar, mother of Jessica, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Sanar (convert, widow of Muhammed, reported on October 13, 2017 to have led neighboring women to Christ)

Sandra Nona (aged 5, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Sara Hana (aged 22, sister of Samar Hana, as of September 18, 2014 is living in an uncompleted concrete building in Ainkawa, said "Here, just because I am Christian, they kill us. They want to 'clean' us. What is our guilt?...We even lose our personalities because so much pleasure is gone. Every day, we cry about our situation. I couldn't imagine it would be like this. I am an Iraqi young girl from the time I was born until now, I have had no good days. We had a bad past, and we have a bad future. We lose our lives", added concerning ISIL "I hate them. They burnt our church, they broke our cross - and this is our love. And they do terrible things to women")

Sarah (infant, rescued in August 2014 from a 110 degree shelter in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan by Savina Rafael Daoud)

Sarah Khoshaba (disappeared in Mosul on June 28, 2014;

released on July 14, 2014, has returned to Kurdistan)

Sarya Matto (aged 60+, survived the mid 2014 ISIL takeover of Teleskof along with Madi Salim, beaten with rifle butts, rescued by Kurdish fighters, still living in the abandoned town without utilities)

Savina Rafael Daoud (aged 22, said on December 28, 2013 in the Ankawa district, Erbil city, Kurdistan “If we reclaim our rights under the name of Christianity we will be very weak, because churches cannot interfere with governments”;

rescued ailing infant Sarah from a 110 degree shelter in a refugee camp in Erbil, Kurdistan in August 2014, became her godmother)

Sermat Patros (kidnapped)

Fr Shahar (spoke in Ankawa suburb, Erbil, Kurdistan on June 22, 2014 on the need for reconciliation)

Shamil Abu Madian (aged 45, had fled Mosul when it fell in June 2014, sought refuge in a town protected by the peshmerga, said on August 12, 2014 "was forced to flee again in panic in the middle of the night when the Kurdish peshmerga troops suddenly vanished")

Fr Sharbil Eeso (aged 72, said on January 17, 2017 after a return to Qaraqosh "We are not allowed to clear up the mess yet. First, the damage needs to be assessed carefully and documented thoroughly, and that can only start when the city is safe. Last week, a jihadist emerged from the tunnel system which ISIL has built underneath the city. The red brigade of the army immediately shot and killed him: the boy was about thirteen years old")

Shaza Malik (wife of Dr Hisham Shafiq al-Maskuni, daughter of Khairiya Dawood, stabbed to death in a targeted robbery in al-Mashtal neighborhood, Bagdad on March 8, 2018)

Shdha Elias (aged 54, Mosul teacher, murdered on January 7, 2013)

Shehed Picha (aged 6, refugee as of December 22, 2014 in the Dora suburb, Bagdad)

Shelan Jibrael (aid worker in Erbil, has been helping Christian and Yazidi refugees prior to April 7, 2015)

Shema Karomi (aged 55, refugee, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 "This Christmas we are not happy because of the instability in Syria and Iraq. People living in these countries are frightened for their future")

Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni (pleaded on June 13, 2012 with the general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Atlanta, Georgia, USA to pressure the U.S. government into aiding Christians in Iraq: "We beg you to do something for us, we want only peace, security and freedom. You can tell everybody Iraq was very rich, but now is very poor, because of the war and much discrimination. We want to cry out to you: we want peace, justice, stability, freedom of religion. No more war, no more death, no more explosions, no more injustice";

said on July 23, 2014 from Bagdad that Muslim leaders had remained silent about the ISIL attacks on Christians "We haven't heard from clerics from all sects or from the government. The Christians are sacrificed for Iraq";

said in response to the January 11, 2016 ISIL suicide bomb attacks in Bagdad "These acts of violence against God and man have no justification whatsoever. They are cannibalistic acts; even animals do not commit such terrible acts, hitting at a mall where there are women, children, young people. There are no excuses... I call on everyone to pray that Europe, the United States, the West wake up from their slumber and act not to make war, but to promote true peace. Do not sell weapons, but rebuild together. Two years ago I said that without decisive action, [Jihadis] would come knocking on your door, at the gates of Europe";

said in Bagdad on April 27, 2016 "No one is really able to understand what's going on, or anticipate what will happen in the future...They say that this is the land of oil, but what

good is it to us today if we do not even have fuel to put in generators. It would be better not to have it because all of our suffering comes from it...you Western Christians, where are you in this Year of Mercy? Iraq and the believers of our land need you";

reported on July 16, 2016 to have denounced countries that aid ISIL, said "Our people are suffering too much. Nobody loves them, nobody takes care of them...The children, the young people, they have no future. They finish studying and they have no job. Always, we cry, all over the world, for those children")

Shoban Kunda (refugee in Erbil, Kurdistan, said on October 6, 2014 "If the U.S. airplanes had not been here at the right moment, Erbil would have fallen and ISIL would be here...It's OK now, but the rainy season begins in one month and when winter comes it won't be good for anyone here")

Shushan (elderly woman, reported on August 6, 2017 to have been beaten and robbed during a home invasion in Doura district, Bagdad)

Sr Silvia OP (on October 2, 2017 told how one-third of her religious community of sisters has died since the 2014 capture of the Nineveh Plain by ISIL “We pray for them every day as sisters. We pray for them, for those bringing peace, for our soldiers, for those who help people have a better life. This prayer helps us forgive – not to forget, because you can't forget, but to not hate the other person. If we hate others, that means that we're doing what the devil wants, not what Jesus wants...My dream is to live in peace. Both my own peace, within myself – because we are also at war within ourselves – and the peace we physically live. Living in tranquility, in love, and helping the people know Jesus because he is love”)

Silvia (mother of Rimon, reported on December 6, 2017 to have said in Bahzani: “Because of this crisis we could not find him medicine. We could not get help for him to leave. And so he lost his life”)

Sittu Adam Qaysar (wife of Kenyas Jumaa, mother of Sanaa and Asmar Jumaa, fled from Syria on February 22, 2015 to avoid capture by ISIL)

Soham Yakoub (refugee, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on November 7, 2014 "Every moment is suffering. We can't sleep. It rained yesterday. The sound was like stones on the tent. My child said to me this morning he wants to go home. He told me we'll go back today. I asked him, 'how, did you dream this?' He stared at me, silently. I don't know, maybe he dreamt he went back to our house")

Sonia al-Shorahchy (refugee from Qaraqosh in Erbil, Kurdistan, said on October 6, 2014 "There must be soldiers [to fight ISIL], too, otherwise immigration is our only future because it is impossible for me or any of us to become Muslims")

Srood Maqdasy (Member of Parliament, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on August 10, 2015 that Christians are often treated as second class citizens by Kurds "We can call it a feeling of superiority, we have religious problem, we have problem with regard to land occupation and properties, a lot of problems")

Stephen Rasche (diocesan aid coordinator in Erbil, Kurdistan, U.S. citizen, said on March 25, 2017 in London, United Kingdom that the world must see Iraq's remaining 200,000 Christians as “a threatened people on the verge of extinction, the victims of horrific genocide...If we can’t hold this community together over the next six to 12 months, it will all be for nought. [They could be reduced to] a custodian population looking after old church properties”, added that discrimination by the West against Christian immigrants was “absolute fact”, that the UN discrimination against Christian refugees has softened after the new U.S. administration took office, and that the sale of Christian land in Iraq was financed by Iran;

said on or before October 17, 2017 “If real fighting were to break out in Nineveh, that would be the end of Christians in Nineveh; they would not wait this out. They would leave, and be unlikely to return...[Nineveh is] split down the middle: on one side is the [Kurdish] Peshmerga, on the other are Iraqi forces including the [Shia] Hashd [militias]. Christians are on both sides of the divide”)

Fr Steven (refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Alqosh, said “At night we often hear gunfire. But luckily we are quite a bit away from the fighting...Back there is my village, Batnaya. I was the last to leave Batnaya. The jihadists arrived shortly thereafter")

Suaad (widow, tailor, refugee from Mosul, currently manages a sewing factory in Erbil, Kurdistan, reported on September 28, 2016 to have said “I haven’t been able to return since. I feel heavy inside, not knowing what has happened to my town...The priest asked me to be in charge of the factory so I took the job. I would have done it for nothing if necessary, but I am happy that I get paid and I can share it with my family...It’s what I like most about the job, that I can share with those in a worse position then me. Sometimes a displaced person asks me to make a dress. I don’t charge them. How could I?")

Suad Saeed (husband murdered by ISIL militants, son abducted and later ransomed, fled to Jordan in approximately March 2014, said "They killed my husband in front of my son. He's badly traumatized from this horrific ordeal. I desperately asked everybody I knew to help me pay the ransom. I couldn't suffer another loss. Afterward, we had no other choice but to flee for our lives")

Sr Suhama OP (refugee as of April 15, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan, said “We lost 23 of our monasteries and houses. We were 26 nuns in Qaraqosh alone. We led a flourishing community life there. Some of our sisters are having trouble getting over the loss. At night they dream of soon being able to return...It is our job to be with our people. I don’t believe it will happen, but should the day come on which the last Christian leaves Iraq, we priests and nuns will be the last to leave")

Talal Abdul Ghani (disappeared on August 22, 2014 in Qaraqosh, had been whipped after refusing to convert to Islam)

Taher (aged 24, adult child of Labib Rammo and Nedal Yousif, reported on July 22, 2017 to have returned to Karamles after the defeat of ISIL, had been a refugee since August 2014)

Tara Fares (aged 22, model, beauty pageant winner, social media personality, shot dead in Bagdad on September 27, 2018)

Tariq Aziz (aged 79, former Foreign Minister in the Saddam Hussein regime, died in prison of a heart attack on June 5, 2015, body stolen on June 11, 2015 in Bagdad International Airport while in transit for burial)

Tedy (refugee, said in Dohuk on December 27, 2014 "I am not an Iraqi, I am a Christian, and I don't have anyone to support me. We like Iraq, but Iraq doesn't like us")

Archdeacon Temathius Esha (aged 54, described on November 20, 2013 how his church has been reduced by emigration to 150 attendees on Christmas or Easter)

Fr Thabet Mekko (returned to Karamles on or before December 15, 2016 after ISIL was pushed out, described their deliberate destruction of Christian homes: “It seems they wanted to make sure nothing of value would remain. The effect is a mounting feeling of hopelessness among the Christians when they discover the damage. They will really need time to recover from this news, to adjust to the new perspective of living in displacement longer than they might have expected...That my family’s house. It’s completely destroyed. ISIL used to shoot mortars from there...People have the feeling that their history has been erased

[with the destruction of family photos]. They feel emotionally displaced because of this...There is no electricity, no water, nothing. Do you know how difficult it is to start cleaning without water available? This process is going to take longer than some people have expected. We have to prepare for a long time of reconstruction. Yet, I firmly believe this is Christian ground, and I will work hard to help the Christians return to this place – God willing, to live here in peace”;

reported on January 8, 2017 to have said of the liberation of the al-Sukkar neighborhood of Mosul from ISIL "News from Mosul need our attention but the situation is still dangerous, there are snipers in roads and it is too early to think about a return of Christians who have fled from their homes. Such a case will be considered only when security is assured. Many families have not yet decided what they will do. Not all those who left Mosul in front of the advance of Daesh [ISIL] will return")

Thaer (kebab-shop owner, said on June 22, 2014 he will not be leaving Bartella to join his cousins in America)

Thaer Saeed (grandfather, said on October 27, 2014 "No one is working here. I drive a taxi from Baghdad to Alqosh and I can't work because it's too dangerous and there are no customers")

Fr Thair Abdul Masih (said in Bagdad on December 26, 2014 "The recent conditions have left us with a bit of sadness for our brethren, be they Christian or non-Christian, those who were displaced and harmed")

Theresa (kindergartner, refugee, said in Bagdad on December 25, 2014 "I want to go back to my home")

Fr Timothaeus Issa (said in the Dora suburb, Bagdad on December 22, 2014 "The people with families have left. The old people, some of them have stayed. All the young people have left. There are very few children here. As for me, in terms of my religious responsibilities, my job is to be father of my people here. I have to stay with these families. But personally, I'm thinking about it. I'm making my preparations...We are on the final step of the way now. Everyone wants to leave. That's it, now")

Archbishop Timothius Mousa Shamani (reported on December 4, 2016 to have been denied a visa to visit the United Kingdom to speak about Christian persecution;

said after the leaders of one Orthodox and two Catholic churches signed an agreement in Erbil, Kurdistan on March 27, 2017 to join together to support the rebuilding of the Christian presence in the country in the form of 12,000 new homes: "Today we are truly a united Church - Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean and Syriac Catholic - united in the work of rebuilding these houses on the Nineveh Plains and in restoring hope to the hearts of the inhabitants of these villages and inviting those who have left them to return...We would like to thank Aid to the Church in Need, which has helped us so much in the past, by providing help and food. Now this charity is playing a crucial role in the rebuilding of our houses”;

signed a request on May 12, 2017 for international protection for the minorities of the Nineveh Plain after the expulsion of ISIL;

reported on August 6, 2018 to have said "An international peace-keeping force should be stationed on the Nineveh Plains. We want a guarantee that our freedom and our security will be upheld. We suspect that a group similar to Daesh [ISIL] will evolve in future, whatever it may call itself...This summer is very critical for us. We must make every effort to rebuild these villages. The Iraqi government has already told us that it has no money and will not be helping us. Without the help of church organizations such as Aid to the Church

in Need we Christians would not have survived here")

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP (aged 72, wrote in Oxford, United Kingdom on or before February 1, 2018 concerning the experiences of nuns who have returned to Mosul: “They are seen as prey, particularly by young Muslims from south of Iraq who have never seen a woman not wearing a hijab. Their assumption is that the sisters are immoral [despite their habits]”, added that their neighbors tell them that by 2050 Christianity will be gone and Islam will rule the world)

Tofee Alabdal (aged 27, teacher, fled on August 6, 2014 from the ISIL advance on Qaraqosh, as of August 29, 2014 is one of 229 living in a school in Ankawa, said “This is the end of Christians in Iraq. There will be no Christians in Iraq in ten years")

Umm Al'aa (aged 40, alias, widow of Mohammed, abducted from Gogjali by ISIL, refused to abort the baby conceived when she was raped by an ISIL fighter, reported on November 11, 2016 to have said "He's my son, he's not the son of ISIL", named him Mohammed)

Umm Saad (wife of Manhal Saad, fled Mosul after the ISIL takeover, found refuge in St Matthew Monastery near Bartella, said on June 22, 2014 "We left in what we had. We passed soldiers running, and throwing off their uniforms as they went. We looked back and saw ISIS [aka ISIL] burning a military vehicle of some type")

Sr Utoor Joseph (disappeared in Mosul on June 28, 2014;

released on July 14, 2014, has returned to Kurdistan)

V M (said on November 16, 2014 that Christians trying to return to Telsqof after Kurdish militia drove out ISIL have been hindered by Kurdish intelligence agents)

Victoria (aged 80, neighbor of Ghazala Elyas, reported on October 3, 2014 to have told ISIL militants in Karamless who demanded her conversion “We believe that if we show love and kindness, forgiveness and mercy we can bring about the kingdom of God on earth as well as in heaven. Paradise is about love. If you want to kill us for our faith then we are prepared to die here and now”, as of October 3, 2014 is a refugee in Erbil)

Deacon Wadhah Sabih (said in Alqosh on October 27, 2014 "we are living cautiously, every family is ready to flee")

Wahida Yaqo Hurmiz (Member of Parliament, said on December 8, 2017 "Christians are facing another catastrophe in the Nineveh Plain despite the defeat of [the Islamic State] because of Shia militias who are committing many violations against our people";

said on December 23, 2017 that only 100,000 Christians remained in the country, added "Baghdad was an important and historical city for the Christians. But ISIL and Hashd al-Shaabi emerged, the situation of the Christians deteriorated...There is only one church in Baghdad the Christians are using to pray")

Fr Wassem (killed in the al-Qaeda attack on the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bagdad on October 31, 2011)

William Warda (chairman of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, described the exodus of 70% of the country's Christians after 60 church bombings and 900 deaths as the result of "genocide";

said on December 24, 2013 that 10-20 Christians were leaving the country each day just hours before two car bombs exploded in Christian neighborhoods in Bagdad, killing at least 34;

on April 4, 2014 described "dozens" of cases where unoccupied Bagdad homes owned by

Christians are seized and occupied by gangs)

Wisam Rafou Poli (husband of Zeena, father, teacher, said on or before November 29, 2016 after returning to his home in Qaraqosh following the expulsion of ISIL "It's worse than we expected")

Yacoob Gewargis Yaco (Member of the Kurdistan Parliament, reported on March 15, 2016 to have said "The American delay in officially declaring what has happened to the Christians officially as genocide, or mass extermination and systematic persecution has caused a huge disappointment among the Christians. They have waited a long time for the international community, especially America, to declare this so that they can be supported and protected in their own country";

said on January 17, 2017 after Christians were allowed to visit to Qaraqosh "There is a lot of unrest among Iraqi Christians. The Kurds support Iraq in their battle against ISIL and the recapture of Mosul and the surrounding cities and villages. The inhabitants appreciate that, but many of the Christians suspect the Iraqi government of giving the Kurds land in return. The Kurds dig deep canals and build high fences that, according to them, are meant to stop ISIL. In the meantime, the Kurds and the Iraqi government deny being promised territory for support and they assure the Christians that no deals were made about the land. But the canals and fences are not built on Kurdish land, but on the Nineveh plain. Many Christians suspect that this border is not temporary, but the start of a permanent border correction")

Yakoob Zabook (aged 31, church security guard, shot in the stomach on June 25, 2013 in Bagdad, hospitalized in serious condition)

Yaqin Habash (refugee from ISIL along with his wife and son, said in Erbil, Kurdistan on October 1, 2014 "We were living like kings. Now we're sitting on iron. They stole my son's tractor. They stole 50 tons of barley and wheat. They stole everything in all the houses, everything I worked for my entire life gone in an instant")

Yas (brother of 3 year old abduction victim Christina Khader Ebada)

Fr Yatroon Yonan Dawood (reported on November 2, 2015 to have said in Diana, Kurdistan of the desire of Christians to leave Iraq "If you're at home, and every day your parents are hitting you, will you stay at home or will you go out? It's human nature that we look for life, not death")

Archbishop Yohanna Petros Moshe (said at Divine Liturgy on June 27, 2014 in Qaraqosh "You know what is happening around us. The terrorists want to destroy us. We have to remain strong. Don't panic. We will be protected, but we also have to protect ourselves";

said on June 9, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan "I ask you to pray for us... especially for our political leaders to help them find the solution that will allow us to go back to our cities";

ordained Emad, Petros, and Roni Salim Momika to the priesthood in Aishty 2 camp, Erbil, Kurdistan on August 5, 2016;

said after the leaders of one Orthodox and two Catholic churches signed an agreement in Erbil, Kurdistan on March 27, 2017 to join together to support the rebuilding of the Christian presence in the country in the form of 12,000 new homes: "I would like to invite the Christians of the Nineveh Plains to return to their homes and resume living in their villages, in order to bear witness to Christianity. Today we join together to demonstrate that we are united in our wish to accelerate this operation as rapidly as possible, and that it must start as soon as possible";

signed a request on May 12, 2017 for international protection for the minorities of the

Nineveh Plain after the expulsion of ISIL;

said on or before July 27, 2017 that over 600 Christian families had returned home to the Mosul area: "Some have found work or started restaurants, shops and trade businesses. It takes a lot of courage to start from scratch again...We have to be able to live together. We are all sick of war. Wars have been fought in Iraq off and on since 1958")

Yonadam Kanna (Member of Parliament, has been working in Bagdad to secure help to protect Christians threatened by the ISIL insurgents, said on June 27, 2014 "We're trying to stop those bloody guys. I'm not confident we can. They are aggressive and have heavy weapons. We only have a few Kalashnikovs";

said on November 20, 2014 that the government in Bagdad needed to replace the official documents of displaced Christians what were stolen by ISIL, added that the government needed to create a National Commission for the Displaced;

spoke in Bagdad on December 23, 2014 concerning the French and U.S. governments' granting of visas to Christians "It's a disaster. Violence and discrimination and corruption are kicking us out, then others are pulling us out. The international community is encouraging Christians to leave. This is destroying our community here";

said in Bagdad on April 27, 2016 that sectarianism has been hurting the country and that "Iraq has many problems that we cannot solve alone because they involve the whole region and the great powers”;

reported on April 4, 2017 to have said in Bagdad “The real estate mafia has struck again. These criminals get counterfeit papers and property deeds to claim assets, houses or businesses owned by Christians forced to leave the country in recent years because of wars and violence...The problem began with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and involved thousands of seized homes and property. With respect to Christians, we are talking about hundreds of homes and businesses")

Yonatan Betkolia (Member of Parliament, said in Bagdad on December 29, 2014 that the Iranian government is working to send aid to Christian refugees)

Fr Yosef (as of July 23, 2014 has taken refuge in Qaraqosh with more than 470 families after forced to flee the ISIL under threat of death)

Yosra Salim-Hana (aged 36, as of September 18, 2014 is living in an uncompleted concrete building in Ainkawa, said "We fled at midnight. The kids were asleep. We didn't bring anything with us, [and we knew] they would kill us because we are Christian. We are not afraid for ourselves. We are afraid for our kids...All of us were crying. The kids were crying, and [my husband and I] were praying looking for a safe place along the way")

Rev Youhanna Bazi (stated on August 22, 2013 that he believes that all remaining Christians will emigrate within the next 10 years if the situation does not improve)

Fr Youhanna Issa OAOC (aged 50, has been aiding refugees in Mella Baruan, reported on January 12, 2015 to have said "Christians are suffering a lot. They live in abandoned, crumbling houses. Food is sometimes in short supply. There is no money to provide for everyday basic needs. The crisis is here to stay and will not be solved in a few weeks...With ISIL's arrival, they no longer believe that they can live with Muslims...there is no more trust")

Youkhana Munir Youkhana (aged 15, refugee, shot dead on June 13, 2015 while standing outside a hall in Jalak, Dohuk province)

Dr Yousef Francis Matta Eklimis (University of Hamdania, is working against injustice against Christians as of June 25, 2013, "Iraqi Christians have suffered much injustice and

marginalization. Even their rights are being ignored in the new constitution")

Yousif Eisho (executive of the Assyrian Christian Movement, reported on May 20, 2013 in Kikuk to have said "The repression we are suffering does not come exclusively from the Iraqi Arabs. Iran, Saudi Arabia... there are too many foreign agents involved in the ethnic cleansing of our people.")

Fr Yousif Ibrahim (monk at Saint Matthew Monastery, Al-Faf, brother of Deacon Ragheed Fahmy Ibrahim, reported on March 22, 2015 to have said in Erbil, Kurdistan he is not optimistic for the future of Christians in the Mideast;

said on May 27, 2015 "We can see the battles and the airstrikes from here [at Saint Matthew Monastery] in front of us, especially at night. The sky lights up at night, but we of course are not scared. God protects us";

said on or before October 14, 2016 that he has advised and will continue to advise Christians to leave Iraq, said "The future here is bad. Every time a terror group appears under a different name and sets out to persecute Christians. I’m a monk, like a soldier I don’t think about [myself]...My brother Ragheed used to say in the last months before he was killed: ‘We have a lot of sins. These sins cannot be washed but by [Jesus’s] blood!’ I consider him a hero killed for the name of Jesus...I forgave them. Believe me, I can tell you even Ragheed’s wife now forgave those who killed her husband. Paul used to persecute Christians, but later he knew Him and believed...Jesus, when on the way to Golgotha, told the women not to weep for him but for themselves. For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Persecution is a pride for us")

Archbishop Yousif Thomas Mirkis (described from Kirkuk the August 6, 2014 ISIL conquest of Qaraqosh and the flight of its 50,000 mostly Christian residents;

while visiting family in Canada on August 1, 2015 described conditions among the refugees in Kirkuk, Kurdistan: "ISIL forced 130,000 Christians to leave their homes there [around Mosul]. Thirteen towns and villages are empty. No one remains. ISIL said, 'If you become Muslim you can stay.' Nobody did. The world must see it as truly amazing that these Christians considered their faith to be the most precious thing they own...This city of 1.5 million has welcomed 500,000 more. Many have been taken in by relatives. I heard about a family with a three-room house and 71 persons living in it. The grandfather had a heart attack and his sons said, 'Is this because you're tired of the noise and the crowd in the house?' 'No,' he said, 'please don't let them go. It is a sin not to offer hospitality'...ISIL, or Daesh, controls eight million persons. This is an ideology that thinks nothing of beheading people, even on You Tube. You can't see that and not realize that no one is far from barbary. Nobody can say, 'It doesn't concern me'. This is not a question of Christianity and Islam. This is a question of ideology - a very dangerous ideology. If ISIL takes over any more territory, it will be a cancer very difficult to stop...I fear worse is coming. A German journalist who was somehow allowed to spend some weeks with Daesh says it is much worse than we imagine")

Yusuf (said on August 28, 2013 in Mosul that he prays "a hundred times" each day due to violence against Christian university students)

Zachi Mochtar (aged 9, son of Salwan Mochtar, refugee for over a year as of October 21, 2015)

Zaid (as of June 20, 2014 has fled Mosul for refuge in the Mar Mattai Syrian Orthodox monastery, said "Any time there were elections, we left to return a couple of weeks later. This time is different. Now we really have to forget the option of returning back to our homes")

Zaid Qreqosh Ishaq (nephew of Ishaq Lazar Gago, forced to flee the ISIL in Mosul under threat of death, as of July 22, 2014 is now a refugee in Irbil, Kurdistan, said "On our way, we had to

go through an area where they [the Islamic State] had set up a checkpoint. They asked us to get out of the car. We got out. They took our things and our bags, our money, everything we had on us")

Zarifa Bakoos Daddo (aged 77, widow, housemate of Badriya in Qaraqosh, said after being freed from ISIL control in October 2016 "One time, a young one, maybe 20 or 21, came and said we should convert. I told him we had our beliefs and they had theirs, He told me to spit on a picture of the Virgin Mary and a crucifix. I refused but he made me. The whole time I was telling God in my heart that I did not mean any of this, I knew God heard me because he tried to burn the picture and his lighter didn't work...The whole time I prayed for my people, for the town, and also for these ISIL members, that God may open their hearts, My Arabic got better from being around them, so something came out of it, thank God")

Zeena (wife of Wisam Rafou Poli, said on or before November 29, 2016 after returning to her home in Qaraqosh following the expulsion of ISIL "I cried when we entered the house", daughter cried over her destroyed doll)

Zuhair Benyameen (killed by the Islamic State [ISIL], funeral held on January 5, 2015 in Erbil, Kurdistan)

Fr Zuhir (refugee from Qaraqosh in Erbil, Kurdistan, said on October 6, 2014 "Bombing is not so efficacious. There will have to be troops on the ground to retake Mosul and end this very dark period")