Notre solidarité avec nos sœurs et frères irakiens, victimes d'une extrême violation des droits humains.
August 17th, 2014
Dear all,
After eleven days, it feels like we are on the same day we left.
Some people are still in the streets, others are still in the parks, and some
take refuge in schools. People are desperate to find a place to stay; even construction
sites, unfinished buildings, private event halls, and basements are inhabited.
A lot of people are living in unfurnished apartments, and homes, with sinfully
high prices. People in the houses are sleeping on the floor, because they
cannot afford to buy furniture. Some were fortunate to find a place to stay
with relatives, in houses overloaded with people. On top of everything,
refugees are running out of money, as they cannot pull money from banks,
neither can they find jobs to work.
The disaster is overwhelming, and we are unable to comprehend it
all. Our church leaders assured us that the Kurdish army would protect us. But
they pulled out suddenly, from several towns in the plain of Nineveh and we had
to make a quick decision to leave. In no time, most people directed themselves
to Erbil, the closest city in Kurdistan. The city is packed with people, more
than 75,000 people fled to it. That is apart from people who went to other
cities like Kirkuk, Zakho, Sulaimania and Akra.
There is enormous lack of supplements, food, water, clothes,
medication, housing, and money. And Erbil cannot accommodate all these people.
However, we are doing what we can. All sisters, who are able to work, leave
every morning, until evening, trying to help people settle and provide some
food, with the help of the church and refugee centres.
We cannot rely on the central government as it is in process of
forming and it is unable to protect the minority. Additionally, so far it seems
like there are no serious actions against the ISIS by the world government.
People lost confidence in everything, in government, in Kurdish protection, in
church, even in the international military forces. Therefore, 90% of people
want to leave. However, that is not easy at all, as so many of them have no
passports or travel documents. The other choice people have is to stay, but
this is even more difficult. Winter is coming, people cannot stay in the
street, their children need to go to school, and they need jobs for living.
We need to serve people and we would like you to help us with that.
There are so many people in refugee centres, who are receiving nothing, and we
would like to help them with food, medication, clothes and other things. To do
that, we need financial help.
As for us, as a community, we left nineteen places of ours, which
include convents, schools and orphanages. Moreover, we have learned that our
convent and the orphanage we own in Bartila have been taken by the ISIS. Also,
our convents in Mosul and in Tal Kaif were taken (including school and kindergarten).
Sisters are scattered everywhere and we need to gather, at least in
two communities in Duhok and Ankawa. In Ankawa, we have a piece of land, and we
are thinking of buying caravans. Things might improve, and we might be
returning for a while, however, we do not think it will be safe in the future.
That is why we would appreciate any kind of help you might be able to offer.
Thank you so very much, and please remember the Iraqis in your
prayers.
A Dominican Iraqi sister
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