ICC Note: In late June ISIS attacked the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh, displacing close to 120,000 people. Among those displaced are some 4,000 Assyrian Christian families. The humanitarian group warns that adequate measures have not been given to stop the ethno-religious cleansing of this group by Islamic militants. The situation for those who fled north to Qamishli is growing more and more dangerous because of the summer heat and limited resources.
07-02-2015 Syria (Christian Post): At least 4,000 Assyrian Christian families are believed to be among the 120,000 people who in recent days have fled the Syrian city of Hassakeh. ISIS forces are entering the city and looking to carry out a mass ethno-religious slaughter, humanitarian groups said, warning that the world still has not provided an adequate response.
“Although we appreciated the efforts of the Republic of France for calling an emergency session of the Security Council last March to discuss the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Assyrian Christians, Yezidis and other ethno-religious minorities of Iraq and Syria, no action has yet been taken to halt this ongoing slaughter. It is as if the world community thinks that the situation will resolve itself if it’s ignored,” said David William Lazar, Chairman of the American Mesopotamian Organization.
Fides News Agency reported earlier this week that the 4,000 Christian families who have fled Hassakeh belong to various churches, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrian Catholics and Syrian Orthodox, and have been seeking refuge in the nearby urban area of Qamishli.
Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, the head of the Syrian Catholic Archieparchy in Hassakeh Nisibi, has also fled the city.
“The government army is currently gaining ground, with much difficulty, as fighting takes place in an urban environment. On the other hand, the Kurdish militias in the region have responded to the raids of Daesh [ISIS] only when the jihadists tried to attack the Kurdish districts, concentrated in the eastern part of the city. Until that moment the government had not provided support to the army,” Hindo said.
The Archbishop warned that parts of the local population are sympathetic to ISIS, which has captured significant territory across Syria and Iraq. He said that a number of young men and adults have been seen siding with the terror group.
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