Minorities in Iraq - Assyrians

Assyrians

The Aramaic-speaking Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldo-Assyrians and Chaldeans) are the indigenous people of Iraq and descendants of those who ruled ancient Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. More generally speaking, the Assyrians (like the Mandeans) are descendants of the ancient Mesopotamians (Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra). They are a Semitic people, and speak versions of the Aramaic of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and have their own written script. They began to convert to Christianity in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD formerly having followed the ancient Sumerian-Akkadian religion (also known as Ashurism). For a time some were Manicheans, following the religion created by the Assyrian prophet, Mani. There are an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Assyrians remaining in Iraq, the larger concentration of them is scattered worldwide (see Assyrian diaspora). They are Iraq's third largest ethnic group after the Arabs and the Kurds.

Assyrians have been successful in Iraq in many fields, including Sports, the Arts, Academia, the Military, Business and Medicine.

The Assyrians rose up against the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and fought alongside the British and Russians with the promise of an independent homeland. This was not to be, and the Assyrians were abandoned by both.

During the British Mandate the Assyrians were used as a well trained and highly effective military force by the British to put down Arab and Kurdish insurrections and protect British interests.

Persecution of the Assyrians began early in Iraq's history. In 1932, the British Mandate of Iraq ended and King Faisal I took the reins of power. In 1933, however, the Assyrians refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to King Faisal. This led to mass deportations and massacres of Assyrians in Northern Iraq. The death toll estimates at roughly 3,000. To this day, Assyrians mark August 7 as their martyrs day.

The Assyrians also came under persecution during Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime. When Hussein first assumed power, the Assyrian population there numbered 2 million to 2.5 million. Many have fled to neighboring countries such as Jordan and Syria, or have emigrated to Europe and the U.S. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports that half a million Iraqi Christians have registered for temporary asylum in Syria. Assyrians have traditionally made good soldiers, during the Iran–Iraq War, many were recruited to the armies of both sides. This resulted in Assyrians in Iraq killing Assyrians in Iran. It was estimated that 60,000 Assyrians were killed during the conflict). Many were purposely put on the front line by both sides as a way of reducing numbers.

With the 2003 invasion of Iraq, some Assyrians felt a renewed hope at possibly being granted their own autonomy. However, many became targets for the Iraqi insurgency, ultimately reducing their numbers even more. According to local organisations, about 150,000 Assyrians are believed to have left the country since the US occupation began in 2003.

Still, there is a push for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq, particularly in the Ninawa region where the biblical Assyrian capital of Nineveh was located. Although little has been done so far to establish this, some voices from within the new Iraqi government appear to welcome the possibility of Assyrian autonomy. For example, on February 24, 2006, Dr. Mohammad Ihsan, Minister of Human Rights in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq stated "We don't mind Iraqi Christians concentrating anywhere they wish, and establishing a new province for themselves in the Nineveh plain, and bringing together Iraqi Christians from all over the world and their return to their houses and towns." On January 29, 2006, a set of car bombs exploded outside four Assyrian churches in Baghdad and Kirkuk killing four worshippers and injuring many more. This led to demonstrations by Assyrians around the world demanding Assyrian autonomy in Iraq.

More recently, Assyrian armed militias have been formed to protect Assyrian towns, villages and areas in the north from Islamic and Kurdish extremists. This policy has met with success thus far.

However deadly attacks against the community began again in December 2009 in Mosul and picked in February 2010. It led to the assassination of over 20 Christians and the bombings of churches in Mosul. The attacks led to up to 4,300 Assyrians flying Mosul to Assyrian towns in the Nineveh Plains. Since the 2003-invasion, many Assyrians fled from Baghdad, Basra and Mosul and went to majority Assyrian areas like in the Nineveh Plains and as well Dohuk Governorate.