05/25/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – The threat of violence defines everything in Iraq. Whether it is the defining feature of how one safely lives or how society organizes to achieve change, the possibility of violence is always present. This leaves Christians in a challenging predicament. Their neighbors regard them as a peaceful, and thus vulnerable, community. When positive changes come to Iraq, Christians win the least. When negative changes come, Christians lose the most.

This year’s incidents in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, are just a snapshot of how Christians are impacted by the country’s political, social, and economic conditions. In the Spring, Baghdad’s Christians were shocked by two murders that took place just weeks apart from each other. In the second attack, the armed group also stole the murdered family’s valuables.

Father Biyos Qasha of Baghdad Maryos Church told Rudaw, “This (attack) means that there is no place for Christians. We are seen as a lamb to be killed at any time.” He also shared his concern that “these are the signs of a start of a (new) plan to force the Christian population from their homes and out of the country.”

Christians in Baghdad are no strangers to targeted waves of violence. Basim currently lives in Kurdistan, having left Baghdad in 2006, “when the civil war between the Sunni and Shia was at the top level.” He shared, “We used to live in the Dura district, which was the best area to live before 2003. Unfortunately, it became the worst during the civil war. We had to be home before the darkness comes because unknown militias were randomly building temporary fake checkpoints and if the checkpoints were Shia, then they were looking for Sunni and vice versa. But as Christians, we were more afraid of the Sunnis’ checkpoints.”

Daily life in Baghdad, as well as the rest of Iraq, would only grow more dangerous for Christians as the days passed. “I can say 2004 was better than 2005, and 2005 was better than 2006, which means things are getting worse and worse until 2014, when ISIS attacked our Christian villages,” added Basim.

It has now been 12 years since he left Baghdad and tensions in the city remain too high for him to feel comfortable returning. Yet, this was the city of his birth, so he must regularly travel there to maintain his family documents. He remarked, “I don’t like going… it is not safe and it is not the Baghdad that I ever knew and lived. Everything has changed. I don’t mean that the street became dirty, generators everywhere, high noise and unofficial shops everywhere, all that is disgusting. But the people even changed, their faces are not as before.”

As long as Basim remains in Iraq, he will always have to return to Baghdad to maintain official paperwork.  This situation, combined with the escalating security risks across the country, is why so many Christians from Baghdad have left Iraq altogether.