Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Stephen Pound (Labour), on Tuesday, 7 December 2004, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 53 members in total.

---

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN IRAQ

That this House is deeply concerned by the mass exodus of Iraqi Christians which has decimated Iraq's ancient Chaldo-Assyrian community; notes that the Chaldo-Assyrians make up over 95 per cent. of Iraq's Christians and that this exodus has been largely caused by escalating violence against Christians from Fanatical terrorists, including the bombing of over 10 churches, the 1st August church bombings that killed 12 people and the assassination of over 100 Iraqi Christians since April 2003; further notes that there has been illegal expropriation of Chaldo-Assyrian land and villages in Dohuk province and the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq, thereby depriving many Christians of their homes and livelihood; recognises that Iraqi Christians are among the major forces for moderation, who together with moderate Muslims can act as a significant buffer against the spread of extremism in Iraq; and calls on the British Government urgently to encourage and support the creation of an Autonomous Administrative Region in Iraq for the Chaldo-Assyrians, as promised in Aricle 53(d) of Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law, the Administrative Region to be situated in and around the Nineveh Plains and in Dohuk Province, the ancestral homeland of the Chaldo-Assyrians which is still heavily populated by them, financially to support the reconstruction of Chaldo-Assyrian villages and infrastructure, to provide across-the-board political support to the Chaldo-Assyrians, to assist the Chaldo-Assyrians in reclaiming their land and villages in Dohuk Province and the Nineveh Plains and to support financially the return and resettlement of Chaldo-Assyrian refugees.

---

Secondary information

Type

Early day motion

Reference

342 

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Iraq Violence Christianity Chaldo-Assyrians

Link

View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk