A ‘safe haven’ is required to protect religious minorities in Iraq – Hayes

“The international community needs to do more in protecting religious minorities in Iraq and the creation of a safe haven could be the solution”, says Fine Gael Dublin MEP, Brian Hayes .

“Since January, over 24,000 Iraqi civilians have been injured or killed by the Islamic State (ISIS). Up to 600,000 people from religious minorities including Assyrians, Yezidis, Chaldeans, Christians are internally displaced and are now faced with the threat of ISIS in their ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ campaign. The struggle of the Christian community is particularly challenging. In 2003 there were an estimated 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq. Now, only about 250,000 Christians remain. An entire community has been wiped out.

“The international community must do more to protect these groups and the EU can play a leading role. One solution I believe, is the creation of a ‘safe haven’ or ‘safe zone’ in Northern Iraq as an interim measure while the new Iraqi government takes control of the situation. This would provide immediate protection for minorities that feel threatened by ISIS.

“A similar approach was taken with “Operation Provide Comfort” to protect the Kurds from genocide in 1991. This saved countless lives. We can repeat this success again and save lives in Iraq. It cannot be done without boots on the ground and that ultimately means a UN force of peacekeepers supported by a no fly zone policy.

“The international community simply cannot stand by and allow further slaughter to happen. Toppling Saddam was the easy bit from a western perspective. Putting together a new Iraq, and overcoming sectarian tensions was always going to be challenging. The new Government has committed itself to reconciliation and that means respect and tolerance for religious difference across Iraq. The conditions need to be created to encourage Iraqis to remain rather than flee their country. This will only happen where safety can be guaranteed.  

“The European Union has a responsibility to work with the new Iraqi Government to help them guarantee this safety. ISIS represents a threat, not just to Iraq, but to the entire region. Clearly they will stop at nothing in fermenting their brand of fundamentalism.”