In Jordan, Iraqi Christians dream of fresh start abroad

AMMAN: Inside a church in Jordan, a displaced Iraqi Christian mother dreams of a brighter future for her children far from the war-torn country they were forced to flee. She is among thousands of Iraqi Christians from the northern town of Bartalla to have sought refuge in neighboring Jordan after running for their lives from jihadists. “We’ve lost everything. Our houses have been pillaged and destroyed. There’s nothing left over there to make it worth returning,” said Walaa Louis, 40.

When the Islamic State group swept across northern Iraq in 2014 they told Christians to convert, pay tax, leave or die. Tens of thousands chose to flee. Baghdad has announced final victory over the extremist group, but Louis says she will not return to a country where she does not feel safe. She, her husband and three children-now aged 16, 15 and eight-fled Bartalla in August 2014, trekking for hours in the dead of night to the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Arbil.

They endured months of struggle in Arbil, including sleeping rough in parks or inside churches. Iraqi forces retook Bartalla from IS earlier this year, but when Louis returned to her hometown in August she found nothing but a home in cinders. She and her husband decided to head to Jordan, where they filed with the UN refugee agency for resettlement “in any safe country” to ensure her children’s future. But as Christmas approaches, Louis said her family has received no financial aid and their money is running out. “We’ve spent everything we had,” said Louis, who suffers from a heart condition. “I can’t even see a doctor or buy Christmas presents for my children,” she said. For now, her youngest son is among some 200 children aged 6 to 14 attending night classes at the Marka Latin Church in the Jordanian capital Amman.