The goal is to enable all the displaced people to
return to their homes.
Since June 2014, ISIS has expelled the Christians of
Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, where they lived for thousands of years.
Today, we thank the Iraqi Army and the Peshmarga
forces for liberating the area. But many of these homes were destroyed, burned
and looted alongside the churches, service institutions and the remaining
infrastructure.
We have to help the displaced Christian people, as
much as possible, by rebuilding and furnishing their homes and restoring the
infrastructure of the villages.
In a meeting between His Beatitude Mar Louis Raphael
Sako and the Chaldean bishops in Iraq, which was held in Ankawa/Erbil on
Monday, January 23, 2017, it was decided to start the process of reconstruction
and fundraising through donation.
Two teams will be working together in this project:
the Chaldean League and the parishioner’s committees. The first Committee for
Telkaif - Alqosh villages (presided by Fr. Salar Boudagh) , and the second
committee for Karamlaish Village( presided by fr. Thabit Macco) in coordination
with Dr. Amanj Francis from Chaldean League
.
To speed up the process of reconstruction and to
facilitate the return of the displaced people to their homes, the following
amounts have been collected:
The Chaldean Patriarchate: ID300 millions
The Archdiocese of Erbil: ID100 million
The Archdiocese of Mosul: ID50 million
The Archdiocese of Kirkuk: ID25 million
The Archdiocese of Basra: ID20 million
To face this gigantic challenge and to preserve our
historical areas, we call upon our homeland and overseas parishes to support
the restoration of their brethren’s houses and to facilitate their return.
We also call upon the international community,
especially the United States, the European Union and the Government of Iraq to
help reconstruct and develop the area. Additionally, the plain needs
investments to stimulate the local economy and to create jobs for the local
residents. This will open a window of hope in their hearts to stay in their
homeland and preserve their identity and history.
A survey was conducted for 1667 displaced families
from three villages and it showed that 1300 families want to rapidly return
back to their villages and commence their normal life. This in turn, will
encourage others to return. The survey also shows that the percentage of
destruction is between 5 and 80%.
In order for the process be more organized, the two
Committees are registering and documenting damaged homes for those who wish to
return and they will start working and paying for all those who wish to return.
Finally, residents of these villages need to demine their fields and also need
charitable and humanitarian projects such as health centers, and electric
generators.