The Forgotten Nation

"Our faith has kept us strong and our parents show us the way. Now we know the truth" – A refugee story

Feeling alone and lost, an Iraqi Christian family who came close to death by seconds as their street is hit by a missile, find peace in the UK a year later.

The family of five escaped their hometown of Bagdad during the takeover of Islamic State (IS) in search of a safer life free from fear and violence.

Sameer Butrus Polus (59), a charity worker, from Stockport, Manchester, UK, had to flee from the Iraqi capital, the only town he has ever known; with his wife, Ban Matti, and his three children; Julia (19), Peter (16) and Sofia (13).

Coming from a Christian background, they always had their faith in God to guide them despite facing every day fearing it would be their last.

Sameer sent a letter to the United Nations (UN) at the end of 2014, describing the life they were living, however, it was only until January 2016 that they were granted a place to live in the UK as refugees.

While they no longer fear for their life, they now face the issue of settling into a new routine and experiencing the dramatic culture shock.

"I never lived the life of a normal teenager; spending time with friends and going to coffee shops," Julia said.

“I didn't experience any of this because of the war. It wasn’t possible. It was very dangerous, so you couldn’t go out.

“Even if my parents let me go out on my own, I wouldn’t go. It was not the right place to live this way.

“Now I live here, it’s difficult to mix with people and talk to them because my life is nothing like theirs.

“I don’t know how they think and how they live; their lifestyle is very different from mine. Even when they speak, I can’t share the same subjects they talk about; I just don’t understand.

“But then they ask me questions to get to know me better and I just talk and talk about my life and what got me here. Then they have nothing to add.”

As well as their long journey to the UK, the Polus family also had to flee from Bagdad to Syria, another bid to find safety.

But before the war started they lived normal lives like any other and never felt like they missed out on anything, while appreciating everything they had.

"Before the war, until I was in year six or seven, we didn't feel like we needed anything to feel more alive or to be more like other people, because we were all in the same boat," Peter said.

“You wouldn’t see a highly rich family and a poor family; it was an equal community. Then when the war started, my friends and I saw less of each other, but we continued to attend church and take part in church activities like Sunday School and our choir.

“We lost our community along the way because most of the people we were close with travelled to America, Australia, Canada, all over the world" - Peter Polus

“Then we moved back to Iraq and while we were still in contact with our friends, it was very rare because they also had their circumstances.

“We started from zero in Iraq making new friends and building a new life, then we did the same in Syria; which didn’t really work out and now we are starting all over again here. It’s tough.

“I don’t have any friends here. It’s not been easy. But despite it all; I’m happy, I’m safe, I have my education, which is the thing I never dreamed I would have or to love what I’m doing.

“I miss my friends, but whatever annoys me here, I don’t look on the dark side.”

In 2004 Sameer and his family escaped from the war in Bagdad in search of stability in Damascus, Syria, after suffering for many years from conflict.

Their fear and desperation led to anxiety of the unknown future that was waiting for them.

But when they entered Syria, thinking they escaped the worst of it, they found themselves in the middle of another one.

The war in Syria became worse than what they had endured in Iraq and were constantly living in fear, on top of their daily worries; finding a place to live, a school for their children and saving money for food.

"The situation became increasingly worse after terrorism and oppression deteriorated in Syria, specifically in the Jaramana region where we were living," Sameer said.

“Random mortar shells began to fall on us in every place in the city; in addition to the trapped cars. We were frightened to get out of the house every day.

“Our anxiety prevailed when our children went to school and we were constantly worrying about their safety until they arrived home.”

The security got worse day by day until in 2013, with the encouragement of his wife’s family from Karaqosh, Iraq, Sameer and Ban Matti agreed that she and their children had to move back.

Approaching the end of 2014, Sameer sent a letter to the United Nations (UN) describing the life they lived up until then as part of his application for his family to be accepted as refugees.

Sameer decided to stay in Syria while he awaited the result of their refuge application and completed his study at the Philosophy and Theology Institute to become a pastor.

Disaster struck again for the Polus family on June 10, 2014, when armed gangs of IS attacked Mosul, a neighbouring city to Karaqosh where his family resided.

“The situation was extremely worrying and frightening in Karaqosh, especially for my wife and children; after the Christians were deported from the city, they had to run away leaving everything behind,” Sameer said.

“My family were under attack again on June 25 that same year and while they were on the phone, I was hearing their cries for help.

"While they were on the phone, I was hearing their cries for help" - Sameer

“But as I was still in Syria, I was unable to to do anything except to pray to God; may he keep them far from any harm or evil.”

While English is not her first language, Sameer’s daughter, Julia, described in her own words a moment her fear escalated dramatically.

“It was Summer. We had no electricity and we were sleeping on the roof of our house as we would normally do. The next morning we heard news that IS would take over our village,” she said.

“Since we didn’t have a car, we couldn’t escape that day until my mum’s cousin got there. That’s when my fear kicked in. I was imagining them in groups carrying guns and weapons; bombs being dropped all around us.

“I kept thinking my nightmare would become real. This is it. I’m going to die.”

She got into the car and they managed to escape. Julia still considers her mum’s family her heroes.

During that time of war, soldiers would be recruiting young men to join them in the war. If they saw them, they would be taken away.

In his early teenage years, Peter described what it felt like to always have to look over his shoulder so many times that he was forced to drop out of school.

“They started taking young people like me. They didn’t care about their age. If they saw anyone who looked tall, they just took them,” he said.

“I was the tallest one in the family, so that’s one of the reasons why I stopped going to school.

“I wasn't allowed out of the house, even to be with my friends, during the war. When I went to church, I had to go with my mum and dad; I could never go anywhere alone.

"I could never go anywhere alone" - Peter

“Even when I used to get the bus, you would see an army boy or a group of them just standing there, waiting to take one of us away.

“We knew some of the people who were taken; they were Iraqi not Syrian, but they would take anyone. They all had to go.”

"It was a Sunday. We were waiting for the 5pm mass to join the choir. My brother, sister and I, along with one of our friends were waiting in front of the church door, just chatting," Julia said.

“Next thing I knew, bombs were being set off on the street we were on then one lady ran frantically towards us, urging us to go inside the church quickly.

“Within seconds of leaving that spot, a bomb exploded there and by this point we were inside the church.

“The glass around us was shattered; tables and chairs were completely destroyed and the whole room was so messy.

“It was only a few seconds after we went inside the church when the bomb hit the place we were standing.

“I clutched onto the three of them tightly as we hid underneath a staircase in the church, while the rest of it crumbled around us. The sounds of explosions were deafening.

“We were in shock. I was desperately looking at my sister, brother and friend, asking them over and over again 'are you OK? Are you OK? Has anything happened to you?'

“If we were outside the church for just five more seconds, we wouldn’t be here right now. We were very close to that point; the closest we have ever been to death.

“That woman was like an angel. We will never forget what she had done for us.

“When the dust settled for a few minutes, we began to look for the woman who saved our lives, but we never saw her again. I will always remember her and what she had done for us.

“The explosions didn’t stop there. Missiles were still being dropped on that street, so our priest performed the service under the stairs, since it was the safest place for us. We didn’t know when it would ever end.”

“As we went into the church, you could hear a thundering noise; you couldn’t see anything because it was all dusty and the glass of the windows were all broken,” Peter said.

"The sounds of explosions were deafening" - Julia

“The door of the church was about to fall when I caught it just in time. We warned our parents to stay where they are when they called us because we knew another bomb could drop at anytime.

“If one drops, usually one or two more will follow.”

Julia’s parents, who were in a church opposite them, were terrified in case something happened to them.

Their mother describes that feeling with fear in her eyes; reliving the moment all over again. She spoke in Aramaic; the Iraqi Christian language.

“I was devastated. I felt my heart sink. I immediately picked up the phone and called them; fearing for their lives,” she said.

“When they answered, they reassured me that they were fine. I was overwhelmed with relief. ‘Thank God, thank God they are OK!’ I said out loud.

“Throughout our long devastating journey fleeing from one country to another; I took my phone everywhere I went. It became a part of me as it was the only way to know if my family were safe."

Looking through pictures on their phones, their families who still live in Iraq have sent them images of their war torn houses, flats and hairdressing salons.

They say that whenever they receive a phone call from their family, their heart stops, the fear returns and they have flashbacks of their past.

They are still in constant fear for their family and friends back home, but despite it all, they are now living peacefully in Stockport, Manchester.

"My phone became a part of me as it was the only way to know if my family were safe" - Ban Matti

“I always try to stay positive because many people wish to be in our situation right now. So that’s why I’ll always be thankful and happy,” Peter said.

“Life might give up on you, but you can’t give up. Our faith has kept us strong and our parents show us the way, so now we know the truth.”

“I always tell my family ‘look at me. I’m very lucky. I’ve been through three wars and I’m OK. I’m safe,’” Sameer said.

Sameer has been working for a charity called Iraqi Christians In Need (ICIN), founded by Dr Suha Rassam.

ICIN founder admits that Iraqi Christians need more help from the Western world as the charity celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Iraqi Christians In Need (ICIN) is a UK charity founded in May 2007 that aims to address the needs of vulnerable displaced Christians and other faiths from Iraq and other Middle-Eastern countries, with an objective to raise awareness of their plight during the recent refugee crisis.

Fleeing her hometown of Bagdad, Iraq, during the Gulf War in 1990, then witnessing the plight of Iraqi Christians during the country's invasion in 2003, motivated ICIN trustee and founder, Dr Suha Rassam to dedicate her life to helping them.

In between working for ICIN, working as a professor of medicine at the University of Bagdad and as a doctor in the UK, Suha had some spare time which she decided to fill by enriching herself in the history and culture of her ancestry of Christianity in Iraq.

Through sheer curiosity and learning about her heritage, Suha discovered that not enough information has been published in English about Iraqi Christians. 

So she decided that she would change this by writing her own book in 2005, Christianity In Iraq, which was re-published in 2016.

"Most people are unaware that Christianity was already present in Iraq well before it reached Britain, and that it has continued to be a significant cultural and religious presence in that country right up to the present day," Dr Sebastian Brock, The Oriental Institute, Oxford University (Forward).

“In the aftermath of the recent invasion and war, the indigenous Christian Churches in Iraq face a threat perhaps even more serious than any of those which they have so frequently had to face in the past.

"This makes Dr Suha Rassam's book all the more timely and important: not only does it very successfully provide a clear and well-balanced outline of the long history of Christianity in Iraq, but also, above all, her book sheds much-needed light on the present dire situation for Christians in Iraq, this being something of which all too few people in the West are aware."

"The origins of Christianity in Iraq are ancient, and hark back to the apostolic age. Despite the vecissitudes of history, it has celebrated an unbroken existence spanning almost two millennia," Suha said in the book.

"It comes as no surprise therefore that a variety of churches have emerged in Iraq. The  Church of the East (previously known as the Nestorians) and the Syrian Orthodox Churches resulted from the doctrinal decisions that were realised at the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon in AD 431 and AD 451 respectively.

"Along with being an expression of faith, Christianity in Iraq is very much a badge of identity. This is perhaps its greatest difference from Christianity in western countries, where nationality surpasses religious affiliation."

"I first moved from Iraq in 1990 but I moved before the first war and I came for a sabbatical so it was not so traumatic but soon after I arrived; the first Gulf War occurred. Since my husband was in Bagdad, while I was in London with my two children, it was a traumatic experience not knowing what will happen to them," Suha said.

"We had to wait for six months from when the war started and for six weeks there were bombs being dropped in Bagdad and I had no news of my family - that was very scary.

"So after the war ended my husband decided that we should leave the country and he thought that the country was going from worse to worse that there was no future there anymore.

"The country was going from worse to worse that there was no future there anymore" - Suha

"Settling here initially was alarming; when there is a war you have to figure out how to earn your living, how to settle your children in school, so I didn't feel too nostalgic about the country.

"But while I used to be a professor at the University of Bagdad and I had a lot of work there, I found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands.

“So I started to do what I've always wanted to do; which was to look into my history into the origins of our presence as Christians in Iraq; how did we come to be?

“I started to dig into the history of Iraq and I did a course in the school of oriental and African studies. What I discovered was just amazing, awakening and it opened my eyes to new vistas of how rich our churches were and how rich our history was.

"Somehow we were not told all this and I felt a bit angry about that, so it was like a new journey I had started.

"What I discovered was just amazing, awakening and it opened my eyes" - Suha

"I still worked as a doctor here but I also started writing a book which I published in 2005 and that was a great success because there are very little publications that are in English about Christianity in Iraq.

"It was those days that our news was on front pages of the newspapers because of the 2003 Iraq invasion that had happened, so my book came in handy for those people who wanted to know something about Iraq and the Christians of Iraq.

“Somehow that led me into this new journey and because of the news of the refugees, I met some other people and together we established a charity called Iraqi Christians In Need (ICIN).”

But it wasn't enough for her to just be part of a charity working in a remote location. She said she had to be there, to witness the vulnerability of Iraqi Christians living as refugees and help them on site.

Suha and other members of ICIN decided to visit war-torn areas such as Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq to help them from the source.

"We felt like these people were helpless. They had to flee to Jordan, Syria; in fact we visited them in Syria in 2007 and we saw them in large numbers in desperate situations," Suha said.

“To help them, we cooperated with the Bishop of Syria. To help the refugees we organised a teaching programme in English, a computer-teaching programme and many other projects.”

Then four years later she began to miss her home in Iraq, but as it was not safe before, she couldn’t visit, until 2011 when the north of Iraq exhibited a safer environment.

“As time went by, my nostalgia to visit Iraq again increased, so in 2011 I decided to go to the North of Iraq in Kurdistan because it was a safer area.

“I went around all the Christian villages that we used to go as young students; we used to have our picnics, our holidays, our school trips and it was a great place to visit.

“The community was flourishing there; there was a lot of discussion about whether the Ninevah Plain would become a safe haven for the Christians, which I never thought was a good idea.

“They were there in the villages, I visited Karaqosh and many other areas as well as Christian inhabitants of Ankawa; the Christian district of Erbil, which has grown in size because of displacement.

“I went again in 2013; the overall situation was fairly good but then the tragic events of 2014 happened; when Christians from Mosul were displaced after Mosul was taken over by IS. Christians were forced out of their homes in June.

"They attacked the Christian villages in August 2014, so all of the Christians of the Ninevah Plain were forced to leave their homes, while those in the Southern part of Ninevah went to Erbil and others from the Northern part went to Dahoq and other parts of Kurdistan.

"During the first few days they were helped by citizens of Ankawa; they gave them food, water, shelter, they used to look for shade because it was very hot at that time.

"The Bishop of Erbil was very welcoming and helpful in organising rescue operations. Later on all the other Bishops got together and formed a unified pot because people were starting to send money from all over the world.

"Our charity sent a sum of money for that emergency rescue operation. In the first stages they set up tents.

"However, when winter approached they had to move quickly and establish caravans - it was amazing how in just a few months many centres were set up in Ankawa and Erbil to house about 59,000 individuals.

"I was happy to see that people were being taken care of, but the sad thing is that they have lost all hope and many of them are emigrating.

"When I visited Jordan and I saw the amount of refugees there it just broke my heart. They feel that this is the best way, but in Jordan the help is not as good as in Erbil, but still they are surviving.

"They're looking forward to go to the West but Western countries haven't been as helpful; some of them have but there is still a big community in Jordan that need more help and I'm sure there are many in Lebanon, Turkey and other areas of the world too."

The latest edition of Christianity in Iraq was published in October 2016 and is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christianity-Iraq-Tolerance-Massacre-Persecution/dp/0852448597

The UK government has been questioned by charities like ICIN and the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME) about how much is being done to protect Christians from the Middle East.

The FRRME claims that western governments have largely neglected Christians in the Middle East and that this has to change.

The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME) is a UK registered charity that works to bridge the sectarian divide through interfaith dialogue in the Middle East.

Working with all faiths suffering under destruction in the Middle East, the FRRME has developed a tight grasp on the issues facing Middle Eastern minorities particularly regarding the role of the UK.

Ever since the Iraqi Prime Minister declared full liberation of eastern Mosul on January 24, 2017, hope was resurrected among Iraqi Christians all over the world.

However, when Iraqi troops started to recapture Mosul on February 19, 2017, and they returned back to their homes, hope was dampened after seeing the state of their hometowns.

There was nothing but rubble that was left in Mosul post-liberation. Assyrian monuments were destroyed. Historic treasures were demolished.

The native Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamian ancestry have a history in the region dating back over 5,000 years and their churches and monasteries have endured being burned down and vandalised.

Despite the liberation, Iraqi Christians are still afraid to go back for fear of being attacked again.

The FRRME communications officer, Alex Wentworth, among other members of the charity set up charitable projects to help Iraqi refugees suffering under the control of Islamic State (IS).

After visiting war-torn areas in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, the charity raised money to open up shelters and provide food and water for homeless civilians.

According to the charity Iraqi Christians continue to be ignored by the international community and Christian charities are the only reason these people are being fed.

The total number of Iraqi Christians FRRME fed in April this year was 7,048 including approximately 1,400 families.

"Iraq's Christian community has dwindled from 1.4 million in 1987 to less than 200,000 today," Alex said.

“Years of sectarianism and living as second class citizens, followed by three years of persecution by IS has left many dead, displaced and dispossessed.

“Their plight has been largely ignored by western governments and the mainstream media. Consequently, Iraqi Christians are languishing on the scrapheap of history; unable to return to their homes and unable to build a future.

"It is one of the great tragedies of the early 21st century."

On June 10, 2014, Islamic State took control of Mosul. Once home to at least 70,000 Assyrian Christians there are next-to-none left in Mosul today and any that remain are forced to pay a tax to remain Christian and live under the threat of violence.

"The main problem in the UK is that Her Majesty's Government (HMG) won't do anything to help Iraqi Christians," Alex said.

"In 2015, David Cameron announced that the UK would take in 20,000 Syrians from refugee camps in the Middle East.

“This, he claimed, would ensure that we took in the people most in need. However, what he didn't say is that these people are all Muslim - Christians cannot go to the camps for fear of being attacked.

“In effect, the British government has denied asylum to people on the grounds that they are Christian.

“We are lobbying the British government to do more to help the Christians but it is like talking to a brick wall.

“They have decided what the policy should be and no amount of evidence will sway them.

"That being said, we will continue to highlight the persecution of Iraqi Christians at every opportunity in the hope that things will change."

While Alex says that western governments should do more to help the minorities such as Iraqi Christians, FRRME published an article on July 6, 2017, celebrating the newly signed agreement by MEPs that support Iraqi Christians' right to return home safely.

"Last week, along with other non-profit organisations (NGOs) and 60 representatives from the Iraqi Christian community, MEPs from the EPP group in the European Parliament invited us to attend a conference titled: 'A Future for Christians in Iraq’," the article stated.

“The focal point was the establishment of a safe zone in the Ninevah Plain where Iraqi Christians can live free from persecution.

“The Kurdish regional Government, a key player in reconstruction talks, has been hospitable and supportive, with a large displaced Christian population already residing in its territory, and with additional internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Bagdad also welcomed.

“With IS on the verge of defeat in Mosul, 40 percent of Iraqi Christians now wish to return home (up from three percent in 2016) but there are fears for their security.

“After much discussion, an agreement was signed at the conference which fully supports Iraqi Christians’ right to return home. This is a major political step forward.”

“While there is new political support for Iraq’s beleaguered Christian community, their return to the Ninevah Plain will take time to implement as homes and businesses have been destroyed."

The latest UN figures show that 3.4 million Iraqis have been displaced and over one million of the figures are Christians that have fled their homes as a consequence of the division, violence and under the threat of IS.

FRRME’s new chief executive, Mike Simpson, posted a message of encouragement on the website stating the seriousness of what is happening.

“Iraq has been in our news so much over the last few years that we may get anaesthetised to the tragedy and horror we see on our screens and read in our newspapers,” he said.

“The news has often focused on the war and all the political controversy about it, but the humanitarian crisis facing Iraq now looks likely to last long after the last shots have been fired.

"I am passionate about leading our team to build on their excellent work and to help the Christians of Iraq to tell their story. Their voices have certainly not been heard strongly enough in the corridors of government or in our media."

Conservative Fylde MP of Lancashire demands that the UK, Iraqi and Kurdistan governments should do more to protect Middle-Eastern Christians and their right to freedom of worship.

In October 2016, Lancashire MP Mark Menzies visited war-torn Iraq and witnessed the devastation caused by IS and has met many persecuted Christians who were forced to flee their homes.

He spoke to displaced families at the Ashty 2 Camp, Ankawa, Erbil; where 5,500 people are forced to live in 1,088 housing units.

Mark, who is a member of the Catholic Legislators' Network, was invited to visit Iraq by the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), to raise awareness worldwide about the plight of refugees.

"It should press upon both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and also Kurd government in Erbil to ensure that protections for Christians and their right to freedom of worship are enforced," Mark said.

“For Iraqi Christians living as IDPs, it is important that through the foreign aid budget, we ensure that Iraqi Christians are beneficiaries of this support.”

Witnessing the vulnerable families going through the tragic events struck a chord with the politician, who, at times, took his faith for granted.

"It should press upon both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and also Kurd government in Erbil to ensure that protections for Christians and their right to freedom of worship" - Mark

“As a Christian myself, but one who at times takes the freedom to practice my own religious beliefs somewhat as a given, I was particularly moved when I saw Christians in Iraq being persecuted and even losing their lives at the hands of so called Islamic State. It made me appreciate the value of the freedom to worship,” Mark said.

“The first thing that struck me was the incredibly strong faith of the Iraqi Christians – it was truly remarkable.

“It is important that the regional Kurdistan government gets recognition for providing support and refuge for the displaced communities.

“I was also struck by how strong the desire was of the Christian communities, not only to maintain their faith but also to return to their homes.”

While many Iraqi Christians have returned back to their homes following the terrorist attacks, Mark believes that it won’t be an easy transition.

"The first thing that struck me was the incredibly strong faith of the Iraqi Christians – it was truly remarkable" - Mark

“In large conurbations such as Mosul this will be incredibly difficult because, not only have people lost their homes and businesses but there is a deep distrust of people who remained in Mosul who they previously regarded as friends and neighbours. That will take time and effort to resolve.”

Mark insists that, while the world is changing gradually for this group, there is still room to improve the level of protection for Iraqi Christians.

“I will be highlighting the plight of Iraqi Christians who have been internally displaced and ensuring that policy makers, whether in the areas of defense, foreign policy or humanitarian aid are mindful of the needs of religious minorities in Iraq, including the once substantial Christian community.”

“Many of us can remember the television images from 2014 of Christians and Yazidis fleeing heavily-armed ISIS fights in Iraq and perishing on the mountainsides.

"I will ensure that policy makers, whether in the areas of defense, foreign policy or humanitarian aid are mindful of the needs of religious minorities in Iraq; including the once substantial Christian community" - Mark

“We know the stories of the disappearance of thousands of Yazidi women and girls. That, coupled with the eradication of Christianity from Mosul and the Ninevah Plain, where there were an estimated 260,000 Christians and now there are none, meant action was needed.

“The situation was desperate and when I was asked to vote for airstrikes in Iraq in September 2014, I was sure I was doing the right thing.

“Having now visited Iraq and spoken to people whose lives were saved by those airstrikes, I’m certain I did the right thing.”

“I was completely humbled by meeting and speaking to some of these families. They had lost so much but still remained a Christian belief that God will protect them and look after them.

“To see that level of faith and hope in a place of such desolation was enlightening indeed. Many of those who we spoke to had fled their homes with only the clothes on their back as ISIS fighters swept through their homelands, murdering and torturing innocent people.”

"Having now visited Iraq and spoken to people whose lives were saved by those airstrikes, I'm certain I did the right thing" - Mark

Last year in October 2016, Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, who is overseeing the church’s aid efforts, told the Members of Parliament that the overall number of Christian families in the camps has now fallen by 20,000, with many families leaving the country.

The Archbishop’s top priorities were renting houses for the displaced, providing them with food, setting up more medical centres and giving families pastoral and spiritual support.

“We rely on you telling the story of the situation and the importance of Christians remaining, so that the Christians can help be a bridge between the different groups,” he told the MPs.

The MPs also witnessed the ordination of two new priests in Ankawa, including a 25-year-old Fr Martin Banni, who trained at St Peter's Seminary in Erbil.