萨科枢机指出：全面排雷将尼尼微平原重新还给基督徒难民

作者 Louis Raphael Sako*

加尔丁礼宗主教强调建医院和住房之前，先解除伊斯兰国埋下的爆炸物才是最重要的。有必要铲除隐藏在地下的敌人、日常生活中必须接触的。排雷行动是基督徒重返家园必不可少的先决条件。一名十四岁少年死于地雷爆炸

巴格达（亚洲新闻）—重建住房、圣堂、医院可以满足人们的成就感，在伊斯兰国制造的战乱之后感到重返正常生活了。但是，在这之前最根本的首要任务是排雷。这是伊拉克加尔丁礼宗主教萨科枢机在一封公开信中指出的，要求“脚踏实地地……展开战后重建，先从排雷开始”，从而有一天“让难民重返家园”、“在这里在我们的家园生活”。

今天，摩苏尔和尼尼微平原被伊斯兰国占领两年多来、在盟军和伊拉克军队即将发起全面总攻收复上述地区之际，“很难了解一旦获得解放后村庄乡间的情况，诚然，重建住房、基础设施是重要的”。但加尔丁礼宗主教警告说，重返家园前“必须要铲除一个最大的障碍。这就是隐藏的敌人、藏在地下的敌人、日常生活中必须接触的”。

最后，萨克枢机表示，“今天我们应该严肃对待伊斯兰国后的问题、规划重返这片历史悠久的富饶土地后的生活”。

以下为萨克枢机公开呼吁全文英文版：

Right now many newspapers mention the preparations for the battle of Mosul. Yet once the fighting is over, a great humanitarian project will have to be undertaken. For over two years, hundreds of thousands of people from the Nineveh plain – about 120,000 Christians, tens of thousands of Yezidis, kaka’is and all other inhabitants of the region – have been hoping to return to their homes.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to know in what condition Christian villages will be after they are liberated. There unfortunately is no doubt that as in other liberated Iraqi cities schools, homes, clinics, hospitals and churches will have to be rebuilt.

Yet before thinking about reconstruction, before returning to revive our beloved cities in the plain of Nineveh – Teleskuf, Bqaofq, Batnaya, Tell Keff, Bartala, Ba'ashiqa, Karamless and Qaraqosh –, a big obstacle will have to be removed.

This obstacle is a sneaky hidden enemy, under the ground and sometimes even in everyday objects. I mean mines and many Islamic State booby traps left when they are forced to leave an area. Wherever it pulls out, it sows death by leaving hidden mines and explosive devices.

How many people died on the way to their homes in Sinjar, Ramadi and Tikrit? How many families have been bereaved as they rejoiced to find finally their homes after being displaced or becoming refugees?

The traps left by Daesh (Islamic State) should not prolong the plight of refugees in the Nineveh Plain. Today, we must seriously consider a post-Daesh plan after life returns to the ancient and fertile plain called Nineveh.

If I wish to draw the world’s attention to the tragedy it is because I do not want our children to grow up amid minefields. Our people has suffered too much for there to be more people injured, amputees, death by mines.

A young Christian of 14, Eugene Salah, died on a mine when he came to work the land with his father alongside one of our liberated villages.

Today I invite all the people of good will, all Christians, to mobilise so that the Nineveh plain can come back to life. Yes, with trust in Christ I want to believe in the resurrection of the plain of Nineveh and Mosul!

To rebuild the cradle of Iraq’s Christian communities, we have to start with large-scale demining. In the beginning of July, I asked the Fraternité en Irak (a French NGO that helps Iraq’s Christian, Yazidi and Shabak minorities) to see how to clear two already liberated Christian villages.

Currently, the Fraternité en Irak and France have announced that they will start soon to clear these two Christian villages as well as four Kaka'i villages. The project, which also aims to train Christians, is only a first step.

Sure! Rebuilding schools or clinics brings greater rewards, but if mine clearance is not done before we can rebuild nothing.

By addressing this problem early, we can accelerate the return of Christian refugees to their homes and villages. By bringing in demining specialists to the Nineveh Plain now, we can start the process of reconstruction of areas liberated from the Islamic State.

I invite all those who read these words to believe in Christ, our Saviour, and in the resurgence of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain one day. Working step by step, stage by stage, rebuilding after clearing, we Iraqi Christians can return to live here.