Iraq’s Christians Nour’s list A priest is saving thousands from Islamic State

“WE CAME to Jordan because of the priest. He helps everyone.” So says Haytham, a Christian Iraqi accountant, who fled from his home in Qaraqosh in the middle of the night along with his wife and children when Islamic State (IS) took nearby Mosul in June 2014. By the time the family reached Jordan in August their largely Christian town was under IS control. “We all fled, Muslim and Christian,” says Haytham. He pulls out a picture of the bodies of some of those who failed to leave in time.

In 2014 alone an estimated 2.2m Iraqis were internally displaced; fewer than 200,000 of them had sought refuge abroad by June 2015. Unlike Syrians entering Jordan, Iraqis do not automatically get refugee status or aid. They must instead try to obtain a visa, weeks in advance. This involves paying for a return ticket to Iraq or finding a sponsor within Jordan. Many of Haytham’s friends and relatives remain trapped.
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Had it not been for Father Nour al-Qusmusa, a 35-year-old priest living in Jordan but originally from northern Iraq, Haytham and his family would still be there too. They spent weeks sleeping in the garden of a church in Erbil. But when the church put them in touch with Father Nour, they found a way out. After a meeting with King Abdullah last year, the priest brokered a deal with the Jordanian government to streamline the application process for Iraqi refugees. He sponsors their entry to the country, and Caritas, a Catholic charity, helps with food and shelter. So far, 2,200 people have fled IS to Jordan thanks to the priest.

Father Nour worries about the future of his community, and sees no hope of going home. “We became like strangers in our land after the American occupation,” he says. “Sectarianism only grew then.” Life is not easy in Jordan either: Iraqi refugees may not work, and cannot receive the same subsidised health care as Jordanians. Their children cannot attend free government-run schools.

In order to receive aid they must pass UNHCR’s “Refugee Status Determination” test to determine if they are really fleeing persecution. This takes months, and many are refused. “There is no future for Iraqi Christians in the Middle East,” says Father Nour. “I ask for the prayers of my people to be fulfilled.” Those prayers centre on a common desire to migrate to Europe, America or Australia; but so far, only a handful of refugee families have been accepted


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