Displacement is more than simply leaving one’s house. It means leaving behind certainty, income, education, friends, and family. For Telskuf’s Christians, two displacements within such a short timeframe was deeply scarring and regarded as part of a longer historical trend of Iraq’s Christians fleeing their homes. Frustration was widely felt among the community. Zain, who was raised in Telskuf, said, “We Christians don’t ask for anything. We just want security. [This], it’s a war against Christians.”
The situation has caused reconstruction efforts in Telskuf to significantly decrease. While several families have again returned after the October displacement, it is not unusual to find the streets abandoned. Telskuf remains part of territory disputed between the KRG and ICG, which in turn limits the options of residents. Zain explained, “We have homes [here] and whenever we are out there, they ask us to bring a kind of permission or someone who will grant us that we will go in and go out… [But] I am like, this is my home.”
Without freedom of movement, even meeting the basic needs of survival can be challenging. “I have been waiting for a food truck for over an hour. I started to have one surgery and will have another [soon]. I am tired because the waiting is so long,” said one elderly woman in April. That particular day, the food truck would eventually arrive after a five-hour delay at a checkpoint that offered no reason for the postponement. Such situations involving the transportation of basic goods are now commonplace in Telskuf.
Despite these challenges, residents of Telskuf remain hopeful for a better future. One woman, Iana, said, “No, I don’t like travel… I would not leave. If there can be employment, we are comfortable here. ISIS affected us, but they are gone.”
Iana’s son would also never think of leaving Iraq. “I don’t know why, but he likes Iraq so much. It’s like he was born from Iraq, not from me.”
Milad echoed this feeling. Now that he has returned to Telskuf, he says he feels as if his soul has come alive again. “Even with the difficulties we are experiencing, we feel like there is a psychological part that can motivate us to live… I feel like my soul is in Iraq.”
Undoubtedly, Telskuf is facing many challenges. But through residents such as Iana and Milad, Telskuf remains a beacon of hope for Iraq’s Christians. They were displaced—twice—but they came back determined to help rebuild and heal their community. As the residents of Telskuf have demonstrated, Iraq’s Christians are resilient. They are, as many Iraqis have pointed out, “like the rose in the orchard.”
For interviews with Claire Evans, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org