There has, rightly, been enormous concern expressed across the world about the recent turn of events in Northern Iraq. The expulsion of the Christian communities from Mosul and the 13 villages of the Plain of Nineveh – an historic heartland inhabited by Christians from the earliest days, well known from, amongst other sources, the story of Jonah – was a wake-up call. The brutalities committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), against fellow Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis alike, have placed them beyond the pale of civilised engagement. Pope Francis has said they must be stopped, and the Holy See representative to the United Nations in Geneva has argued that there is a “moral imperative” for international intervention.
There has been criticism of the international community for being slow to respond to the threat. This may be fair, though the rapidity of ISIL’s advance took everyone by surprise. Less so is the charge that countries like the United Kingdom have been silent, or sitting on their hands. The British response has developed throughout the summer, combining humanitarian, political, military and multilateral instruments to help tackle the emerging refugee crisis and galvanise international action. It was under British chairmanship that the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2170 on 15 August, focused on disrupting ISIL’s financial flows, preventing foreign fighters from reaching ISIL, and sanctioning those seeking to recruit further terrorists. Prime Minister David Cameron led the way in ensuring a tough European Union response to the ISIL threat at this week’s European Council. More immediately, the UK has already committed £23m in humanitarian assistance, the latest package being announced by International Development Secretary Justine Greening when visiting a church and refugee camps in Northern Iraq on 27 August. The RAF has been deployed on aid drops, and we have been working closely with the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to support them in their efforts to stabilise the military situation and turn back the ISIL advance.
I had the opportunity earlier this week to talk to the Maronite Patriarch, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, alongside other diplomatic representatives, at the Maronite College here in Rome. The Patriarch spoke passionately about the need for international intervention, especially the importance of ensuring that the Christian and other minority communities – an essential element in the complex mosaic of life in Iraq, and an important bulwark against extremism – can return to their homes. He, and other Oriental Church leaders in communion with Rome, have consistently argued against Middle Eastern Christian communities and their families leaving their traditional homelands for life as exiles in the West. They should instead have the necessary guarantees and support to enable them to stay where they and their ancestors were born.
2,000 years of culture, heritage, tradition and faith is a powerful argument for us to do all we can to help them, and others, to do so. The Prince of Wales, for one, is determined to act.