The terror group ISIS has destroyed 2,000 years of Christian civilization since it became powerful in 2013. PJ Media reports tens of thousands of Assyrian Christians have been forced out of their homes as militants attack their villages; many have died.
A Catholic priest who visited a Christian refugee settlement in Iraq said that the refugees are defeated.
Fr. Andrzej Halemba said, “Without question, we are talking about genocide here. Genocide is not only when the people are killed, but also when the soul of a people is destroyed. And that is what is happening in Iraq now. It is the most tragic thing that I have ever experienced.”
He continued, “I have seen people who have been deeply wounded in their soul. In the various crises in this world I have often seen people who have lost everything. But in Iraq there are Christians who have had to leave everything and take flight three or four times. They can see no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Other refugees fled to Lebanon, after ISIS seized at least 11 of the 33 Assyrian communities in Syria’s Hasakeh province.
Chorbishop Yatron Koliana said that the Assyrian villages are now empty, except a few remaining fighters. Assyrians once numbered about 30,000 in Hasakeh.
“Our people have experienced a great tragedy in Syria,” Koliana said. “They are depressed. Some of them have chronic illnesses. Their lives are difficult.”
50-year-old refugee Simaan said, “The whole world, from the UN to the United States and Russia, is responsible. They (ISIS) have destroyed our whole civilization…and the world is watching.”