Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

Short description: none

Persecution of Christians by (IS)

Part of Syrian civil war, War in Iraq (2013–2017), Sinai insurgency, Second Libyan civil war, Boko Haram insurgency, Kivu conflict, Insurgency in Cabo Delgado

Chaldean Catholic Church

Location| Template:Country data ISIS Territory of the Islamic State

* * *

Iraq
Egypt
Syria
Libya
Nigeria
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mozambique
Date| Ongoing
Target| Christians (mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, Citadel Christians, and other groups)

Attack type

| Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam.
Perpetrators|  Islamic State
Defenders| Christian militias in Iraq and Syria
Iraqi Armed Forces
CJTF–OIR
Syrian Armed Forces[lower-alpha 1]
Egyptian Armed Forces
Libyan National Army
Motive|

* Islamic extremism
* Anti-Christian sentiment

Template:Campaignbox War in Iraq (2013–2017) The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder[1][2][3] of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria controlled by the Islamic extremist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover but has since intensified further.[4][5][6] Christians have been subjected to massacres, forced conversions, rape, sexual slavery, and the systematic destruction of their historical sites, churches and other places of worship.

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, "While the majority of the victims of the conflict which is raging in Syria and Iraq have been Muslims, Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers."[7]

The depopulation of Christians from the Middle East by the Islamic State as well as other organisations and governments has been formally recognised as an ongoing genocide by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom. Christians remain the most persecuted religious group in the Middle East, and Christians in Iraq are “close to extinction”.[8][9][10] According to estimates by the US State Department, the number of Christians in Iraq has fallen from 1.2 million 2011 to 120,000 in 2024, and the number in Syria from 1.5 million to 300,000, falls driven by persecution by terrorist groups and repression by authoritarian regimes.[6]

## Contents

* 1 Timeline
* 1.1 Northern Iraq (2014)
* 1.2 Libya (2015)
* 1.3 Syria (2015)
* 1.4 Egypt (2018)
* 2 Reactions
* 3 Recognition as genocide
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Timeline

The mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq and Syria is a process which was initiated during the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and the Multi-National Force and later it was initiated during the start of the Syrian civil war and the spillover. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced during the U.S.-led invasion which lasted from 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrian Christians.[11] Following the campaign of the Islamic State in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Assyrians fled the jihadists, finding refuge in neighboring countries.[12]

### Northern Iraq (2014)

After the fall of Mosul, IS demanded that Assyrian Christians living in the city convert to Islam, pay jizyah, or face execution, by July 19, 2014.[13][14][15][16] IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi further noted that Christians who do not agree to follow those terms must "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate" within a specified deadline.[16] This resulted in a complete Assyrian Christian exodus from Mosul, marking the end of 1,800 years of continuous Christian presence.[17] A church mass was not held in Mosul for the first time in nearly 2 millennia.[18]

In October 2014, a release put out by the Assyrian International News Agency stated that 200,000 Assyrians had been driven from their homes by the violence and become displaced.[19]

IS has already set similar rules for Christians living in other cities and towns, including its de facto capital Raqqa.[20][21]

IS had also been seen marking Christian homes with the letter nūn for Nassarah ("Cultural Christian").[22][23] Several religious buildings were seized and subsequently demolished, most notably Mar Behnam Monastery.[24]

By August 7, IS captured the primarily Assyrian towns of Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Bartella, and Karamlish, prompting the residents to flee.[25] More than 100,000 Iraqi Christians were forced to flee their homes and leave all their property behind after IS invaded Qaraqosh and surrounding towns in the Nineveh Plains Province of Iraq.[26]

### Libya (2015)

On February 12, 2015, the IS released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Egyptian Copts migrant workers that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and whom they threatened to kill to "avenge the [alleged] kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church".[27] The men, who came from different villages in Egypt, 13 of them from Al-Our, Minya Governorate,[28] were kidnapped in Sirte in two separate attacks on December 27, 2014, and in January 2015.[29]

### Syria (2015)

In February 2015, in response to a major Kurdish offensive in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, IS abducted 150 Assyrians from villages near Tell Tamer in northeastern Syria, after launching a large offensive in the region.[30][31]

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, of the 232 of the Assyrians kidnapped in the IS attack on the Assyrian Christian farming villages on the banks of the Khabur River in Northeast Syria, 51 were children and 84 were women. "Most of them remain in captivity, with one account claiming that ISIS is demanding $22 million (or roughly $100,000 per person) for their release."[7]

On 8 October 2015, IS released a video showing three of the Assyrian men kidnapped in Khabur being murdered. It was reported that 202 of the 253 kidnapped Assyrians were still in captivity, each one with a demanded ransom of $100,000.[32]

### Egypt (2018)

On 2 November 2018, Islamic State gunmen killed at least seven Coptic Christian pilgrims in Egypt on Friday and wounded at least 16 in an attack.[33] In April 2021, Islamic State gunmen executed a Christian businessman who was kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai.[34]

## Reactions

On 2 and 3 August 2014, thousands of Assyrians of the diaspora protested the persecution of their fellow Assyrians within Iraq and Syria, demanding a United Nations-led creation of a safe haven for minorities in the Nineveh Plains.[35][36]

In October 2014, Kurdish-Danish human rights activist Widad Akrawi dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award "to all victims of persecution, particularly the Yazidis, the Christians, and all residents of the Kobanê region."[37]

The same month, David Greene, a radio journalist at NPR, stated that around 1,000 Christians had been killed "in areas where Islamic State fighters are targeting religious minorities", without specifying a source.[38]

## Recognition as genocide

Chaldean Catholic priest Douglas Al-Bazi, who was tortured by the Islamic State, has urged the US to recognise the killings as genocide.[39]

On February 3, 2016, European Parliament unanimously voted to recognize the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, by the Islamic State as genocide.[40][41][42] Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament, said of the vote: "It gives the victims of the atrocities a chance to get their human dignity restored. It's also a historical confirmation that the European Parliament recognized what is going on and that they are suffering from the most despicable crime in the world, namely genocide."[43]

The United States House of Representatives followed suit on March 15, 2016, declaring that these atrocities against minorities were genocide.[44] Already in December 2015, at a town hall event, the 67th United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called the systematic persecution a genocide.[45]

On April 20, 2016, the British Parliament unanimously voted to denounce the actions against minorities as genocide.[46]

## See also

* Armenian genocide
* Boxer Rebellion
* §Massacre of Chinese Christians and missionaries
* Assyrian genocide
* Christianity and Islam
* Christianity in the Middle East
* Collaboration with the Islamic State
* Genocide of Yazidis by the Islamic State
* Iraqi Turkmen genocide
* Great Famine of Mount Lebanon
* Greek genocide
* Human rights in Islamic State-controlled territory
* Hindu terrorism
* Hindutva
* Violence against Christians in India
* Late Ottoman genocides
* Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State
* Syrian Civil War spillover in Iraq
* Persecution of Copts

## References

1. ↑ Very doubtful considering the nature/composition of the new Syrian government, especially in the ongoing 2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites and the wider clashes in Western Syria.

1. ↑ Rodriguez, Meredith (August 8, 2014). "Chicago-area Assyrians march against ISIL, others protest airstrikes". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicagoarea-assyrians-march-against-isis-others-protest-airstrikes-20140808-story.html.
2. ↑ Bowcott, Owen; Jones, Sam (August 8, 2014). "Isis persecution of Iraqi Christians has become genocide, says religious leaders". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/08/isis-persecution-iraqi-christians-genocide-asylum.
3. ↑ McQuade, Romsin (July 30, 2014). "Iraq's persecuted Assyrian Christians are in limbo". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11000168/Iraqs-persecuted-Assyrian-Christians-are-in-limbo.html.
4. ↑ "Syria: Opposition Abuses During Ground Offensive" (in en). Human Rights Watch. 2013-11-19. https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/19/syria-opposition-abuses-during-ground-offensive.
5. ↑ Levs, Josh (August 7, 2014). "Will anyone stop ISIS?". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/world/meast/stopping-isis.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kino, Nuri (2024-01-30). "Don't Forget About the Persecuted Christians of Iraq and Syria" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/dont-forget-about-persecuted-christians-iraq-syria-opinion-1864499.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fernandez, Alberto M. (June 16, 2015). "The "Sayfo" Continues Responding to Global Christian Persecution". Georgetown University Religious Freedom Project. http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/cornerstone/global-christian-persecution/responses/the-sayfo-continues.
8. ↑ "Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2019-05-03. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48146305.
9. ↑ "Worsening Conditions for Christians in the Middle East" (in en-US). 2022-11-30. https://www.persecution.org/2022/11/30/worsening-conditions-for-christians-in-the-middle-east/.
10. ↑ "Iraq's Christians 'close to extinction'" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2019-05-23. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-48333923.
11. ↑ "Population 'under attack'". Radio Free Europe. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/05/A453003E-DEC4-491A-9069-81255C27A7FA.html2006.
12. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998.
13. ↑ "BBC News - Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. 18 July 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455.
14. ↑ van Tets, Fernande (7 August 2014). "Isis takes Iraq's largest Christian town as residents told – 'leave, convert or die'". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-takes-iraqs-largest-christian-town-of-qaraqosh-9653789.html.
15. ↑ Jadallah, Ahmed (18 July 2014). "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-security-christians-idUKKBN0FN29N20140718.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. 18 July 2014. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-christians-idUSKBN0FN29J20140718. "It said that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom the group has now named Caliph Ibrahim, had set a Saturday deadline for Christians who did not want to stay and live under those terms to "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate". "After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword," it said."
17. ↑ "For the first time in 1,800 years, no Masses said in Mosul". Catholicworldreport.com. http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3221/for_the_first_time_in_a_1600_years_no_masses_said_in_mosul.aspx.
18. ↑ "Iraqi Christian church burnings confirmed by EU delegation". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news. 16 June 2014. http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/iraqi-christian-church-burnings-confirmed-eu-delegation/.
19. ↑ "Increasing Calls for Military Intervention to Save Assyrians and Yazidis". Aina.org. http://www.aina.org/releases/20140815163513.htm.
20. ↑ Abedine, Saad; Mullen, Jethro (28 February 2014). "Islamists in Syrian city offer Christians safety – at a heavy price". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/meast/syria-raqqa-isis-christians/.
21. ↑ Hubbard, Ben (23 July 2014). "Life in a Jihadist Capital: Order With a Darker Side". https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/world/middleeast/islamic-state-controls-raqqa-syria.html?_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Middle East&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article.
22. ↑ "Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455.
23. ↑ Loveluck, Louisa (August 7, 2014). "Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10977698/Christians-flee-Iraqs-Mosul-after-Islamists-tell-them-convert-pay-or-die.html.
24. ↑ "Isis militants 'seize Iraq monastery and expel monks'". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28408926.
25. ↑ "UN Security Council condemns attacks by Iraqi jihadists". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28699832.
26. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998.
27. ↑ El-Gundy, Zeinab (12 February 2015). "Islamic State publishes report on Coptic Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya". Al-Ahram. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/122903/Egypt/Politics-/Islamic-State-publishes-report-on-Coptic-Egyptian-.aspx.
28. ↑ "Thousands mourn Egyptian victims of Islamic State in disbelief". Reuters. 16 Feb 2015. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-egypt-village-idUKKBN0LK1L420150216.
29. ↑ "ISIL video shows Christian Egyptians beheaded in Libya". Al Jazeera. 16 Feb 2015. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/02/isil-video-execution-egyptian-christian-hostages-libya-150215193050277.html.
30. ↑ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (2015-02-25). "Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians" (in en-US). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/islamic-state-in-syria-abducts-at-least-150-christians-idUSKBN0LS0NR/.
31. ↑ "Islamic State 'abducts dozens of Christians in Syria'". BBC. 23 February 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31601451.
32. ↑ "Isis appears to have killed three Christian hostages in Syria". The Guardian. 8 October 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/isis-killed-three-christians-hostages-syria-assyrian-ransom.
33. ↑ Walsh, Declan; Ezz, Mohamed (2018-11-02). "ISIS Says It Was Behind Deadly Attack on Christians in Egypt" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/world/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians-ambush.html.
34. ↑ Casper, Jayson (19 April 2021). "ISIS Executes Christian Businessman Kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai" (in en). https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/april/egypt-isis-kill-coptic-christian-nabil-habashi-salama-sinai.html.
35. ↑ "Thousands rally against 'silent genocide'". 2 August 2014. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/assyrian-christians-protest-in-sydney-city-against-silent-genocide-taking-place-in-iraq-and-syria/story-fni0cx12-1227011070149?nk=c2dc639b829591b95df8725e7e2d2564.
36. ↑ "Assyrians Demonstrate Worldwide Against ISIS Persecution". Aina.org. http://www.aina.org/news/20140802155939.htm.
37. ↑ Kelly, Linda (22 October 2014). "Dr. Widad Akrawi Receives the Pfeffer Peace Award". Fellowship of Reconciliation. http://forusa.org/blogs/linda-kelly/dr-widad-akrawi-receives-pfeffer-peace-award/13064.
38. ↑ "As Christians Flee, Governments Pressured to Declare ISIS Guilty Of Genocide". NPR. 24 December 2015. https://www.npr.org/2015/12/24/460906980/as-christians-flee-governments-pressured-to-declare-isis-guilty-of-genocide. "At least a thousand Christians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled."
39. ↑ Simov, Stoyan (15 March 2016). "Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide". Christian Post. http://www.christianpost.com/news/iraqi-priest-isis-terrorists-smashed-face-hammer-us-must-recognize-christian-genocide-159180/.
40. ↑ Moore, Jack (February 4, 2016). "European Parliament Recognizes ISIS Killing of Religious Minorities as Genocide". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/european-parliament-recognizes-isis-killing-religious-minorities-genocide-423008.
41. ↑ JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION , European Parliament
42. ↑ MEP's call for urgent action to protect religious minorities against ISIS , European Parliament
43. ↑ Kaplan, Michael (February 4, 2016). "ISIS Genocide Against Christians, Yazidis? European Parliament Recognizes Islamic State Targeting Religious Minorities". International Business Times. http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-genocide-against-christians-yazidis-european-parliament-recognizes-islamic-state-2294384. "The European Parliament characterized the persecution as "genocide" Thursday."
44. ↑ Bruton, F. Brinley (March 17, 2016). "Kerry: ISIS Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims". NBC News. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/kerry-designate-isis-atrocities-genocide-n540706.
45. ↑ Thomas, George (2 February 2016). "'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS". Christian Broadcasting Network. http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2016/February/Its-Genocide-ISISs-Crimes-against-Humanity-Europe-Declares. ""I'm sure now we have enough evidence that what is happening is genocide, deliberately aimed at destroying, not only the lives but wiping out the existence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East in territory controlled by ISIS," she said."
46. ↑ "Isis is committing genocide against Yazidis and Christians, British MP's unanimously declare". 21 April 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/isis-is-committing-genocide-against-yazidis-and-christians-british-mps-unanimously-declare-a6994456.html.

Related articles

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Assyrian people

Ethno-linguistic group(s) indigenous to the Middle East with various additional/alternate self-identifications, such as Syriacs, Arameans, or Chaldeans

Identity|

* Assyrian continuity
* Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora
* Chaldean Catholics
* Terms for Syriac Christians

Assyrian flag

Aramean-Syriac flag

Chaldean flag

Syriac
Christianity|

| West Syriac Rite|

* Syriac Orthodox Church (518–)
* Syriac Catholic Church (1662–)
* Assyrian Evangelical Church (1870–)
* Assyrian Pentecostal Church (1940–)

|

East Syriac Rite|

* Chaldean Catholic Church (1552–)
* Assyrian Church of the East (1692–)
* Ancient Church of the East (1968–)

Aramaic/Syriac
languages|

* Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
* Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
* Turoyo
* Bohtan Neo-Aramaic
* Hertevin
* Senaya
* Mlaḥsô
* Syriac script

Culture|

* Assyrian folk/pop music
* Music of Mesopotamia
* Syriac sacral music
* Folk dance
* Cuisine
* Clothing

History
(including
related
contexts)|

| Ancient Assyria|

* Early Assyrian period (2600–2025 BCE)
* Old Assyrian period (2025–1364 BCE)
* Middle Assyrian Empire (1363–912 BCE)
* Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BCE)
* Post-imperial Assyria (609 BCE–240 CE)
* Ancient Mesopotamian religion
* Arameans
* Assyrian tribes

|

Classical
antiquity|

* Seleucid Empire (312–63 BCE)
* Parthian Empire (247 BCE–224 CE)
* Osroene (132 BCE–244 CE)
* Syrian Wars (66 BCE–217 CE)
* Roman Syria (64 BCE–637 CE)
* Adiabene (15–116)
* Roman Assyria (116–118)
* Christianization (1st to 3rd c.)
* Nestorian schism (5th c.)
* Church of the East (410-1552)
* Asoristan (226–651)
* Byzantine–Sasanian wars (502–628)

Middle ages|

* Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia (630s)
* Muslim conquest of Syria (630s)
* Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258)
* Emirs of Mosul (905–1383)
* Buyid amirate (945–1055)
* Principality of Antioch (1098–1268)
* Ilkhanate (1258–1335)
* Jalayirid Sultanate (1335–1432)
* Qara Qoyunlu (1375–1468)
* Aq Qoyunlu (1453–1501)

Modern era|

* Safavid Empire (1508–55)
* Ottoman Empire (1555–1917)
* Schism of 1552 (16th c.)
* Massacres of Badr Khan (1840s)
* Massacres of Diyarbekir (1895)
* Rise of nationalism (19th c.)
* Adana massacre (1909)
* Assyrian genocide (1914–20)
* Independence movement (1919–)
* Simele massacre (1933)
* Post-Saddam Iraq (2003–)
* Genocide of Christians by ISIL (2014–)

By country|

| Homeland
Settlements|

* Iraq
* Nineveh Plains
* Qaraqosh
* Alqosh
* Tel Keppe
* Bartella
* Ankawa
* Shaqlawa
* Zakho
* Iran
* Urmia
* Salmas
* Sanandaj
* Syria
* Al-Hasakah Governorate
* Al-Hasakah
* Tell Tamer
* Qamishli
* Khabur
* Maaloula
* Turkey
* Hakkari
* Mardin Province
* Mardin
* Mazıdağı
* Tur Abdin

|

Diaspora|

* Armenia
* Australia
* Belgium
* Canada
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Israel
* Arameans
* Jordan
* Lebanon
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Russia
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Detroit
* Uruguay

Politics|

* Assyrian Democratic Movement
* Assyrian Democratic Organisation
* Aramean Democratic Organization
* Assyrian Universal Alliance
* Dawronoye
* Syriac Union Party
* Syriac Military Council
* Sutoro

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