Some
1,000 Christian families, roughly 6,000 people, have arrived in the northern
Kurdish areas from Baghdad, Mosul and Nineveh, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) said. Several thousand have crossed into Syria, Jordan and
Lebanon.
Many
spoke of receiving threats or leaving out of fear. Fifty-two hostages and
police were killed when Iraqi forces tried to free more than 100 Catholics
taken hostage during Sunday mass on Oct. 31.
"Since
the awful Baghdad church attack and subsequent targeted attacks, the Christian
communities in Baghdad and Mosul have started a slow but steady exodus,"
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
She said
that thousands of people had fled to neighboring countries but that only
several hundred had so far registered as refugees. Churches and aid groups have
told the UNHCR to expect more to flee in coming weeks, she said.
Iraq's
Christians once numbered 1.5 million out of a total Iraqi population of about
30 million and there are now estimated to be about 850,000, or about 3 percent
of the population.
They have
frequently been targeted by militants, with churches bombed and priests
assassinated.
A dozen
suspected Al-Qaeda members have been arrested in connection with the bloodiest
attack on Iraq's Christian minority since the 2003 US-led invasion. The Islamic
State of Iraq (ISI), Al-Qaeda's local affiliate, has claimed responsibility for
targeting the church.
One Iraqi
man, now registered as a refugee in Jordan, left the church minutes before the
attack in which his brother-in-law was killed, according to Fleming.
The
survivor had been deported days earlier from Sweden which rejected his asylum
claim, she said.
On
Wednesday, Sweden returned some 20 Iraqis to Baghdad, including five
Christians, in the latest unannounced deportations from Europe, according to
the UNHCR.
Several
of the returnees said that their asylum claims were rejected on the basis of
improved security conditions in Iraq.
"UNHCR
strongly reiterates its call on countries to refrain from deporting Iraqis who
originate from the most perilous parts of the country. That includes
Baghdad," Fleming said.
Even if
Iraqi asylum seekers' claims have been rejected, Western governments should not
deport them to five central provinces, including Baghdad, seen as too
dangerous, according to the agency's guidelines to governments.
