The Fate of Syria's Million-Strong Christian Population, 10 Years After ISIS's Deadly Attacks

Before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Christians constituted about 10% of the country's 23 million population, but the deadly attacks by ISIS ten years ago changed their situation, and now the remaining Christians in Syria commemorate the tenth anniversary of these attacks. On this occasion, senior bishops from European Union countries described the dwindling Christian community in Syria, which has a millennia-old history in this land, as a tragic disaster not only for Syria but for regional and global stability. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces began their attacks on February 23, 2015, targeting dozens of Syrian villages inhabited by Christians, and simultaneously carrying out powerful explosions in Syrian churches, killing dozens of Christians, causing significant destruction, and forcing thousands of Christians to flee to other countries. The ceremonies marking the tenth anniversary of these massacres come three and a half months after the flight of Bashar al-Assad, the former ruler of Syria, and the establishment of a government by former Islamic jihadists led by Ahmad al-Shar' who presents a seemingly new model of governance. Ahmad al-Shar', known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who led the 'Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham' group, emphasized separating his path from ISIS and al-Qaeda years ago and stated that he would protect the religious rights of minorities in Syria. According to the Associated Press on the second of Esfand, Maurice Amcih, the archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in northeastern Syria, said, 'As Christians, we hope for cooperation among Syrian parties to uphold the rights of every individual.' Archbishop Amcih, opposing a government based on Islamic laws, stated that Christians want to be treated civilly. Western governments have pressured the new rulers of Syria to guarantee the rights of religious, ethnic minorities, and women. Officials of the new government described the burning of a Christmas tree in the town of Sqilbiya in central Syria as an isolated incident and reported the arrest of 'foreign fighters' responsible for this event. However, according to the Associated Press, other attacks have also recently targeted Syrian Christians. Criticism has arisen regarding 'Islamist' changes in the curriculum in Syria. The last speaker of the parliament during Assad's era was a Christian politician, but after the collapse of that regime, one of the Orthodox bishops of Aleppo, Paul Elyaziji, who the Assad government claimed was killed by 'terrorists opposing the Damascus government' eleven years ago, was brought out in a frail state from one of Syria's notorious prisons. Archbishop Amcih speculated in an interview with the Associated Press that two-thirds of the approximately 2.2 million Christians before the civil war may have left Syria. He noted that 34 Christian villages along the Khabur River in northeastern Syria were home to 45,000 Assyrian Christians before the ten-year ISIS attack. Following the civil war that began in 2011 with protests and uprisings against Assad's government, and subsequently with the rise of ISIS in 2014, especially after this group's attacks against Christians, thousands of Christians left their homeland for other countries. Mr. Elyas, a 78-year-old Christian secretary who fled with his family to Hasakah in northeastern Syria after the ten-year ISIS attacks, told the Associated Press that Christians lived in peace and never expected such a dark day in their modern history. He recalls the decapitated bodies of Christians by the roadside being eaten by dogs. Associated Press reporters recently visited damaged churches in Hasakah and Qamishli that were targeted by ISIS bombings in 2015. On the occasion of this anniversary, Archbishop Mariano Crocetta, head of the Commission of the Conference of European Bishops, linked to the Vatican, wrote in a letter that the dwindling Christian communities represent a tragic loss for Syria and regional and global stability. Archbishop Crocetta, in response to a letter from the Catholic Archbishop in Homs, Syria, Julian Jacques Murad, stated that Christians have been an inseparable and fundamental part of the region's history and culture for centuries. This letter called on the European Union and international communities to take specific steps to meet the needs of the remaining vulnerable Christian communities in Syria. Archbishop Crocetta welcomed the European Union's decision to gradually reduce sanctions against Syria.