PEWSEY, WILTSHIRE, UK -- Against a backdrop of unremitting violence and the constant threat of persecution, Iraqi Christians are being forced out of their communities and onto the road in a desperate search for safety. In the third of a series of special reports on life within Iraq, Barnabas Fund, based in the UK, has discovered that life as a Christian refugee brings its own dangers and hardships.

“Leaving your home, your job, the life you have always known,” said the report posted on their website – www.barnabasfund.org. “Fleeing for your life, with nothing but your memories, to an unknown destination. It is a decision that few of us in the West will ever be forced into taking. For a growing number of Iraqi Christians, this nightmare is their life.

“Ebrahim Awisha* took this decision when he found out that his son had been targeted by Islamic militants and had broken his leg in the effort to escape their attack. Mrs. Lila Attar* felt she had no choice when her husband was killed by insurgents. Different circumstances, difference trigger points, one similarity; they were targeted because of their Christian faith.

“The ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq preoccupies the Western media. The headlines are dominated by the groups undertaking the fighting – primarily Shia militia and Sunni insurgents. Minority groups get forgotten in the rush to provide the story on the latest atrocity, the newest horror. Iraqi Christians are one such group whose plight is often overlooked.”

Christians make up disproportionate number of refugee population
The Barnabas Fund report stated that the latest figures from the UN estimate that around 3.7 million Iraqis - 1 in 8 - have been forced out of their homes by the violence since 2003. Christians, who made up only 3-4% of the population of Iraq, account for nearly a quarter of the refugee population. The number of Christians left in Iraq has fallen from 1.4 million in the 1980s to less than 500,000 now.

“The high number of Christian refugees is not accidental; it is part of the plan of Muslim insurgent groups to clear Iraq of its Christian heritage,” the report continued. “Christian refugees will commonly tell of being given a timeframe - two days, a week - to leave their homes or face death at the hands of insurgent groups. In this time they have to pack up what they can for the long journey and their new life.

“Some try to sell items to pay for the passage, but find few buyers. After all, say some Muslims, why pay for something, when it will be available for free in a few days time? Some simply do not get the chance to go back to their homes. Ebrahim was too scared to take his family back to their house, and so sent his neighbor to collect food and clothing for the journey.