Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq (KRG.org) – Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday received Archbishop Paul Coakley, Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, and an accompanying delegation including leaders of Caritas Internationalis in Iraq and a number of Christian religious leaders from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Members of the delegation explained that their visit was designed to examine the situation of refugees and internally displaced people, discuss ways to provide aid, and inform United States authorities of the reality of the situation and the needs of the refugees and displaced people.

The delegation will provide briefings to members of the United States Congress upon their return. They visited camps hosting civilians displaced from Mosul, the Ninevah plains, Sinjar, and other areas, all of whom were forced to flee their homes and abandon their property due to ISIS terrorist attacks. The delegation announced that they would open a Catholic Relief Services branch office in Ainkawa, a suburb of Erbil.

Prime Minister Barzani reiterated that the KRG and the people of Kurdistan treat all people the same regardless of ethnicity, religion, or sect. The KRG is providing and will continue to provide the displaced with as much aid as possible, but this has been difficult because of the enormous number of displaced people and because Iraq’s federal government illegally cut Kurdistan’s share of the federal budget. This has dramatically limited the resources available to the KRG.

The Prime Minister emphasised the need for Iraq and the international community to provide much more assistance to the displaced people sheltered in the Kurdistan Region and to be more responsive to their needs, especially as the winter season is approaching and the housing situation will become much more challenging.

In addition, Prime Minister Barzani expressed grave concern that some Christians are leaving the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, their homes and country, for good. He stated that Christians have been living on these lands for thousands of years and are considered among the original inhabitants of Kurdistan and the entire region. He stressed the importance of providing assistance and urging them to stay so they do not abandon their ancestral homes. He also noted the need to develop a plan to promote trust among the different components of Iraq in which everyone would work together to promote a culture of tolerance, coexistence and the principles of acceptance, social peace, and non-violence.

Regarding the war against the ISIS terrorists, the Prime Minister emphasised the need for continued military support to defeat the terrorists and eliminate them. He conveyed his optimism, as the Peshmerga forces have made progress, and added that the war against the terrorists must not only be conducted through military warfare but also through educational, social, cultural, and political efforts. In order for this to be achieved, countries in the region must play a key role, because if not taken seriously, terrorism will continue to expand and prove to be a major threat to everyone.

At the conclusion of the meeting, members of the delegation expressed their gratitude for the role played by the Kurdistan Regional Government and its people in assisting the displaced. They stressed that they will convey the true reality on the ground to churches and United States authorities. They also pointed to a number of plans they hope to implement including the provision of housing and the creation of health and service centers. Prime Minister Barzani thanked the delegation and expressed his government’s readiness to provide support to members of the delegation in this regard.