Iraqi refugees 'too scared to go home', says bishop

BY CINDY WOODEN AND PAUL JEFFREY
AN IRAQI bishop who met the Pope last week has said that most Christian refugees are afraid to return to their homes in Mosul.
Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Sidemon Warduni of Baghdad said the violence that killed 13 people in October was a shock to Christians.
He said that now Iraqi troops were patrolling Mosul "some are coming back, but many still do not have trust and are afraid they will be chased out again".
"This whole thing made us very sad because we have lived together in peace for centuries," the bishop said. "During all the wars, our churches and our homes were open to Muslims and to all others."
The bishop said between 700 and 800 of the 2,500 Christian families who had left Mosul in October had returned after the Iraqi government sent troops to the city to protect Christians.
He said America, Europe and the United Nations did not do enough to get the Iraqi government to act immediately when Muslim gangs began going through the city using megaphones to tell Christians to leave Mosul.
He made his comments on Vatican Radio after meeting the Pope at the end of his general weekly audience.
Benedict XVI told the bishop: "Iraq is in our hearts. We constantly remember the Christians, praying for them and for peace in the country."
Bishop Warduni's concerns are shared by other Church officials and aid workers.
They say that despite Iraqi government enticements Christian refugees are not going back home any time soon.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Absi of Damascus, a Melkite Catholic, sari: "Especially for the Christian refugees, it simply isn't safe to go back home now. There's no one
to protect them, and so they are afraid to go back."
However, an official in the Iraqi embassy in Damascus, who asked not to be named, said: "Although the situation isn't perfect in Iraq, life isn't exactly perfect for the refugees here in Syria. Their resources have run out and their options are limited. It's time to go home."
Iraqi embassies throughout the Middle East have launched a campaign to lure refugees back home, promising economic assistance and help recovering homes and other properties lost in the country's violence and chaos. Yet UN officials say the enticements
have yielded relatively few takers. Philippe Leclerc, deputy representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria, said: "The refugees are wellinformed about the situation back home. They get news every day from relatives who text them or call them. They know what's going on, and there aren't many who want to go back."
Mr Leclerc said conditions in Iraq would not allow for a massive return of refugees, citing problems with security and the lack of basic services such as electricity and healthcare.
Yet as their savings continue to dwindle the refugees face even harder choices. They are not allowed to work, but many nonetheless labour in the informal economy. Earlier this year Syrian authorities arrested 24 Iraqis for working without permits.
Mr Leclerc said: "It's not our role to tell them to return home or not, but it would be dangerous for the refugees to gamble with returning home just because their resources have run out here."
According to a Church official in neighbouring Lebanon, refugees there are not looking back.
Retired General Michel Kasdano, coordinator of the Chaldean Church's ministry with Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. said: "The refugees who came in past years arrived with a hope of some day returning home, but the ones arriving now don't even want to think about returning.
"And those who have been here a while now want to leave for somewhere else. Their savings have run out, so their children have to go to work instead of to school. They're developing chronic health problems because of the pressure and the increasing family tensions."
The burgeoning needs of refugees for food, housing, healthcare and education far surpass the capability of the UN system to respond,