LONDON: Parts of Iraq, including the once ethnically diverse city of Mosul, remain unsafe for Christians and other minority groups, more than a month after the government declared victory over Daesh.
Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords on Thursday discussing the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq, Christopher Cocksworth, Lord Bishop of Coventry, described the “terrible tears in the fabric of Iraqi society” and emphasised the importance of “social reconstruction” in ensuring the stability and success of post-conflict Iraq.
Along with Christians, he said Yazidis, Kurds, Turkmens, Mandaeans and Shabaks, have not returned to Mosul, the city they once called home.
Schools and media have a vital role to play in harnessing the potential that Iraq’s large youth population affords for creating a new culture of understanding and respect through education, Cocksworth said, quoting comments made to him by an Assyrian priest ministering in Dohuk.
“We may not be able to restore the Christian demography that we had in the past, but we can preserve for the future a presence and role for the Christian community in our society so that through our schools, our skills and our hospitals, we can serve all the people of this land.”
Baroness Anelay of St. Johns said: “Daesh no longer holds significant territory there, but whilst Daesh is failing, they’re not yet wholly defeated and still pose a threat to Iraq.”
She referenced Theresa May’s visit to Iraq in December, during which the prime minister acknowledged the need to address the conditions that enabled Daesh’s rise.
“We must recognize that the challenges facing minorities didn’t begin with Daesh and will not end in their defeat alone,” the Baroness added.
“Solutions must confront longstanding issues of discrimination, exclusion and marginalization.”
Raising the brutal targeting of Yazidi and Christian minorities by Daesh, which have been recognized as genocides by the UN, and the long-time suffering of the country’s Kurdish community, Baroness Hodgson of Abinger said, “The situation there, whilst improving in some ways, is far from settled.”
While the conditions remain present for the terror group to return to the country, minority communities in Iraq are fearful that, “Unless the causes of the violence are rooted out it will return and as before minorities will be the first victims,” Cocksworth said.
He pointed to the chaos following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which, by 2014 had reduced the Christian population by some 75 percent, and, “Earlier cycles of violence which wave after wave eroded their security and forced former generations to flee.”
The UK has a “moral responsibility” and “strategic interest” in helping to secure the stability and success of Iraq, he said, calling for a “long-term commitment to a coalition of reconstruction.”
Success in Iraq, so long a land marking a failure of British foreign policy, is of vital strategic importance, he continued. “Daesh might be a hydra with heads surfacing across the world, but if it can be fatally wounded in the country of its birth, it would be starved of vital sources of energy, morale and inspiration.”
‘Social reconstruction’ is vital for long-term stability in Iraq
‘Social reconstruction’ is vital for long-term stability in Iraq
‘Negotiations with Iran have to happen,’ Steve Witkoff tells Arab News
- US special envoy to the Middle East: ‘If Iran goes, so the region goes’
DAVOS: Iran must come and sit at the diplomatic table, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Arab News on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“That has to happen. It’s important. If Iran goes, so the region goes, and so we have to get that straight,” the envoy said.
Since the outbreak of anti-government demonstrations, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Iran’s leaders to halt the violent crackdown on protesters, vowing “very strong action” if executions go ahead. He has also called on Iranians to keep demonstrating and “take over institutions,” declaring that “help is on the way.”
Although Trump has so far stepped back from direct military intervention (at least since June’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities), tensions remain high and a diplomatic breakthrough has proved elusive. On Tuesday, Davos organizers announced that the invitation to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been rescinded, citing “the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks.”
Araghchi condemned the move, accusing the forum of “blatant double standards” and of bowing to Western pressure. The decision came as the newly created Gaza peace board drew mixed reactions from governments already wary of further inflaming regional sensitivities.
Despite the fraught context, Witkoff insisted that the Middle East was moving in the right direction.
“I think it’s amazing what’s happening. Everybody is, I think, working together towards peace. Everyone’s bought into presidents Trump’s ideas about border peace, and I think I’m very hopeful.”
More than ten countries have reportedly signed on to the main “Board of Peace” (chaired by Trump), which carries a reported budget of $1 billion. Saudi Arabia has welcomed the initiative but as of Wednesday had not released any official statement.
European leaders in Davos appeared more skeptical, with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni all reported to be weighing whether to decline the invitation.
Witkoff, alongside six others on the seven-member executive board (including Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner and Tony Blair), are expected to focus on diplomacy and investment while overseeing Gaza’s on-the-ground administration through the “Gaza Executive Board” and a national committee involving Palestinian technocrats.
Further announcements on participation are expected on Thursday following a fresh round of diplomatic maneuvering in Davos, as capitals weigh the board’s potential impact on existing UN-led efforts.
