Ano Jawhar Abdoka, the President of the Christian Alliance, in a meeting on Tuesday at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., called for the removal of militia groups from the Nineveh Plains.
Abdoka, who is also the Kurdistan Regional Government’s only Christian minister, announced on X that he had participated in the special meeting of the International Religious Freedom Summit Round Table at the U.S. Congress building, attended by ministers and leaders from around the world, along with Hemin Hawrami, a leading member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
“I discussed the current situation in Iraq and the Nineveh Plains, where militias continue to threaten the Christian presence and stifle this authentic component, stressing the need to expel these militias from Christian areas,” Abdoka said.
Today from the US Congress: “The Rogue Militias are suffocating Christians in Iraq especially in the Nineveh Plain”
— Ano Abdoka ܐܢܘ ?آنو (@AnoAbdoka) February 4, 2025
*The imperative of limiting voting of quota only for Christians in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq
Today in Washington, DC, I participated in a… pic.twitter.com/Sj31BYBYJp
“I also stressed the importance of the open-door policy in the Kurdistan Region, which has become a symbol of religious and national coexistence, pointing to the transformation in the city of Ankawa from having only two churches before 2003 to more than 17 churches and monasteries today.”
At the end of his speech, he called on the U.S. government and the representatives of countries present, to support the demands of the Christian coalition, including expelling militias from the Nineveh Plains to prevent the exploitation of the sensitive situation of Christians.
Moreover, he urged the Iraqi federal government to amend the parliamentary elections law in Iraq to limit voting in the Christian quota to Christians only.
Read More: Sinjar Agreement Not Implemented: USCIRF
The annual report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom published on May 1, 2024, warned that the Iraqi government’s lack of ability to curb the power of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is a significant threat to religious freedom.
It also reported that the Babylon Brigades, a nominally Christian PMF brigade, had accelerated its campaign to gain control over Christian properties in the Nineveh Plains.
The group is headed by Rayan al-Kildani, who has reportedly been attempting to become a leader of the Christians in Iraq.
