Categories: christianity
Date: 13 March 2009 21:08:27
Today's country is Iraq
Languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen
Considered by many to be the location of the Garden of Eden, this country's fortunes could not be further from Paradise at the moment.
At the time of the 1st Gulf War in 1990-91, the Christian population was around 1.5 million. This has now reduced to an estimated 400,000. Many have fled the ethnic cleansing which has been going on (many Christians are ethnic Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq but they are seen by the majority population as foreigners). . Christians are seen as being allies of the US-led invasion force of 2003.
Many are now in refugee camps in Jordan and Syria and those who are still in Iraq are subject to daily violence and death threats.