Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just over two weeks ago I attended a rally held by the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac community that was protesting against the treatment of Christians in Iraq. At the meeting was the Victorian shadow minister for planning, Matthew Guy, who also spoke in an eloquent fashion about the problems this community was facing. There were some hundreds of community members in attendance. They gathered in the Treasury Gardens in Melbourne to bring to public attention the suffering of their Christian friends and family members. Speakers at the rally drew attention to examples of persecution of members of their community in Iraq. They also presented me with a letter for the Prime Minister expressing their concerns. This letter has of course been delivered.

Last week my colleague Senator Fifield dealt at some length with the difficulties and trials of these communities in Iraq. All of us deplore the intolerance shown by extremist groups. Almost every day we read with horror of the killings and the bombings of Sunnis and Shiites by extremist terrorist groups acting in the name of Islam. Less well known, I believe, is the plight of the Christian community in Iraq. It seems to me to receive very little media coverage. While only three per cent of the population of Iraq are Christian, some 40 per cent of those who flee Iraq are members of the Christian faith.

The reason for this flight of Iraqi Christians is clear. Reports indicate that Christians are being forced to convert or be killed. Threat letters are sent to their homes demanding Christians abandon their property; otherwise, the letters threaten, they face death. Criminal groups also target Christians in order to exploit their perceived wealth. Islamic law prohibits the payment of interest, so many of the businesses established in Iraq that require loans are run by Christians. The wealth of these Christians has led to further kidnappings for ransom and threats in return for payments.

Women are under pressure to wear the hijab and not to wear Western-style clothing. Certain government departments are pushing to make the hijab a requirement for work. Women have reported threatening flyers in their neighbourhoods. According to the Iraqi Minister for Higher Education there were some 200 documented incidents of targeted assassinations and abductions of academic professionals between 2003 and March 2007. These incidents appear to have occurred along sectarian lines or because of the allegedly secular views and teachings of these academics. Men and women with Christian names have taken to concealing them. Despite all of this, amazingly, 15 new evangelical Christian congregations have reportedly been established in Baghdad since April 2003. There were previously only two evangelical churches, the maximum allowed under Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The Assyrian Chaldean Syriac community make what I believe is the valid point that there seems to be very little media interest in the suffering in their community. Before my meeting with this community, I, like many people, had very little awareness of the extent of these persecutions. In a letter to the Prime Minister the community said:

We ask our fellow free nations around the world to take notice that their Christian brothers and sisters are being killed by extremists in Iraq. These killings are not random. The Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Christians in Iraq are being targeted because of their race and religion. They are being forced to renounce their faith or else die if [they refuse] to do so.

There is no doubt in our minds that a persecution and violation of human rights has now escalated into a process of ‘ethnic cleansing’.

The letter to the Prime Minister goes on:

Based on the current estimates the majority of the Christian  population of Iraq has been forced to flee their country for fear of their lives and now live in neighbouring countries.

The letter goes on further to say:

Today, our families and friends still residing in Iraq are facing fear, persecution and rape on a daily basis. The Islamic terrorists knock on the doors of the Christians demanding to pay the Jizya, a ‘protection tax’ which goes to support the insurgents financially who undermine the peace keeping efforts of the Coalition and Iraqi forces. If the victims refuse to pay the tax, they are told to either convert to Islam, or leave their properties within 24 hours or else be killed.

The Islamic extremists and fundamentalist groups do not consider the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac population as Iraqi citizens; as well as inciting hatred and violence against them. This is despite [the fact that] we have lived there for generation upon generation. We need the support of the international community to help make a stand and cling to what is ours.

That was an extract of what the community wrote to the Prime Minister. The community of course anxiously awaits the government’s response.

I am pleased to report that during the recent visit by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, to Iraq he specifically took up with Prime Minister Maliki the plight of the Christian community in Iraq. Mr Downer emphasised to him our serious concern over this issue in the context of a broader discussion on the urgent need for progress on reconciliation and population security for all religious and ethnic groups in Iraq. I understand Mr Downer also raised the human rights of Iraqi Christians with Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari during his May visit to Australia. In addition to these high-level exchanges, I am advised that Australian officials have raised these and other human rights concerns with the government of Iraq. I am further advised that the department will continue to monitor events closely and to meet with Iraqi representatives and with representatives of Iraqi Christian groups.

It is depressing indeed that we are now seeing that so little has been learnt from the catastrophes of the 20th century, which saw, amongst other things, the slaughter of six million Jews. Despite the Holocaust and catastrophes like this we are continuing to see religious persecution and intolerance. One of the great achievements of the movement towards individual freedoms and rights protection has been the recognition, reflected in numerous national and international laws and conventions, of the right of people to practise their religion. Let us remember that there are many examples where Muslim, Christian and other communities are working together to advance tolerance and friendship. Nonetheless, there are examples which suggest that religious intolerance may be on the rise.

The recent annual report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom reveals some very worrying trends. Among other things, it deals with the day-to-day experiences of Christians in predominantly Muslin countries. In Saudi Arabia, for example, all forms of public religious expression apart from the government’s interpretation of Sunni Islam are banned. In Iran, non-Muslims cannot engage in public religious expression and persuasion among Muslims. There are many other examples that one can quote. The situation in the Middle East has become so difficult that Pope Benedict XVI, in a message delivered last Christmas to Catholics living in the Middle East, drew our attention to the difficulties. He said:

Undoubtedly minorities find it difficult to survive in the midst of dangerous geopolitical situations, cultural conflicts, economic and strategic interests ... In fact, many Christians eventually give in to the temptation to emigrate. Often the damage done is practically irreparable.

The Pope continued:

In the present situation Christians are called on to be courageous and steadfast in the power of the Spirit of Christ, knowing that they can count on the closeness of their brothers and sisters in the faith scattered throughout the world.

In Australia, the organisation Tears of the Oppressed has drawn our attention to many examples of intolerance. It is surprising, of course, that the examples receive so little press, and not just from the mainstream media. I regret to say that in my researches I have found that peak human rights bodies often have little to say on this matter. Let me repeat what Pope Benedict XVI said in his Christmas address, that there seems to be comfort offered by the ‘closeness’ of Christian ‘brothers and sisters in the faith scattered throughout the world’. I hope this is the case, but I am surprised that we do not hear from some of our churches about the suffering Christians around the world. These problems of persecution are unlikely to be resolved by being ignored. I hope we will see more activity on this front from the media, churches and human rights groups.