Christians and Yazidis who have thus far survived the genocide in Syria and Iraq still face extinction in their homelands and need U.S. assistance to survive, according to expert witnesses who testified at a Congressional hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House panel on global human rights. 

    A Yazidi woman, who goes by Shireen to protect her identity, reported she had been enslaved for nine months and that people are taking flight to escape the torture and abuse.  She said without help the communities will never be restored.

    “Captivity under ISIS…was like hell,” Shireen told the panel.  “Yazidis, Christians and other religious minorities, especially the non-Muslim minorities, cannot survive in Syria and Iraq under the current conditions. Without serious action from you and the world governments, many of these people will continue to flee their ancient homelands of Syria and Iraq.” Click here to read Shireen’s powerful statement, or here to watch it.

     Smith who led a human rights mission to Erbil in December of 2016 to meet with genocide survivors blamed the previous U.S. Administration for its inaction and challenged the leadership at the U.S. State Department and the new leadership at the U.S. Agency for International Development, to change course and take action to help those suffering in Iraq, Syria and the region.

     “Career staff at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have ignored the law and thwarted the will of the President, the Congress and the people we represent,” Smith said. “These bureaucrats have refused to direct assistance to religious and ethnic minority communities, even to enable them to survive genocide. This obstruction is unacceptable and I urge Secretary Tillerson and new USAID Administrator Green to put an end to it.”  Click here to read Smith’s full opening statement. Or click  here to watch the Chairman's opening.

The entire hearing can be watched on the video below. Advance the video to approximately the noon mark to the beginning of the hearing.

     Smith has held 10 hearings focused in whole or part on atrocities in Iraq and Syria against religious persecution and he has introduced legislation both last year and this year, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act now HR 390, to help ensure U.S. assistance actually reaches the survivors. The bipartisan bill cosponsored by lead Democrat Rep. Anna Eschoo (D-CA) passed the full House in June and is awaiting key action in the Senate. The legislation is supported by many prominent Christian, Yazidi, religious freedom and accountability organizations and leaders, as well as by other prominent individuals, including three former U.S. Ambassadors-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. Additional supporters can be found here.

     Former Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia and now a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, travelled to northern Iraq this past August, and urged his former colleagues and the full Congress to act now before it is too late.

     “If bold action is not taken by the end of the year, I believe a tipping point will be reached and we will see the end of Christianity in Iraq,” said Wolf who was a most prominent human rights and religious freedom lawmaker in Congress and continues to advocate for victims of religious persecution around the world. Click here for Wolf’s full statement.

     Also testifying were Lauren Ashburn, Managing Editor and Anchor of EWTN News Nightly, who travelled to northern Iraq earlier this year, and Stephen Rasche, Director of IDP Resettlement Programs for the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and Chief Coordinator for the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee.

      “Christians in Iraq are on the brink of extinction…The United States is the only nation in the world that can provide concrete aid to rebuild the community that I saw in shambles,” said Ashburn. Click here for Ashburn’s full statement.

       “I regret to say that we have still yet to receive any form of meaningful aid from the US Government,” Rasche said. He noted that while the new administration seems much more willing to help it has been unable to move the bureaucracy to take meaningful action, and the U.S. finds itself at a critical historical inflection point when foreign aid decisions may determine whether Christianity, and religious pluralism vital to the U.S. national interest and regional security – “will survive in Iraq at all.” Click here for Rasche’s full statement.

      Smith said other efforts are underway to help the struggling people of Syria and Iraq.  He cited a recent request submitted to USAID by The Nineveh Reconstruction Committee USA seeking support to continue rebuilding houses damaged or destroyed by ISIS so that displaced Christian families can return home.  Smith noted that the project has already earned support from charitable organizations like the Knights of Columbus and Aid to the Church in Need, and that U.S. support would ensure it is completed and ready to receive those who want to return to their homeland.

     “Many of us in Congress strongly support this time-sensitive proposal and call on USAID Administrator Green to ensure a decision is made in a timely and comprehensive fashion.  Victims, targeted for genocide need our help and they need it now,” Smith said.

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