Genocide Of Christians Is Directly Escalating Migrant Crisis
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has called on the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to accept a motion he is to be place before the Dáil. The motion will call on the Government to recognise that the atrocities committed against Christians and other groups targeted specifically for religious reasons in Iraq and Syria should be declared a genocide:
“This motion comes on the back of a three day conference during which I and over 100 international catholic legislators discussed with Pope Francis the threats to human dignity that are occurring worldwide.
In light of the recent escalation of the migrant crisis, it was particularly timely that we were discussing the effective slaughter and genocide of Christians in Iraq and Syria over the last number of years.
These attacks on Christians are directly connected to the destabilisation of the region and the displacement of these people.
Since 2003, minority groups in Iraq and Syria have been the target of systematic violence, with millions fleeing their ancestral homes.
Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria have been murdered, subjugated, and suffered grievous bodily and psychological harm, including sexual enslavement and abuse, inflicted in a deliberate and calculated manner in violation of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
I am there therefore going to call on the Government to explicitly recognise the issue of Christian persecution and how it is related, and adding to the extraordinary suffering these people are enduring,” concluded Deputy McGrath.