Over 90% of the Orthodox Christians in Iraq were displaced during the period of war and strife that began early in the 21st century. Most of them are still refugees and have been unable to return home. Now their absence is being exploited by unscrupulous people using fake legal documents, so that their homes can be seized. Iraqi officials are aware of this, but like officials in many nations where Christians are persecuted, they have done nothing.
May Almighty God allow for a restoration of the Christian presence in Iraq.
“Iraq: Hundreds of Houses Illegally Taken from Christians in Nineveh Province,” Zenit, November 19, 2018:
There are at least 350 homes belonging to Christians which in recent years have been illegally taken away from their legitimate owners, taking advantage of their absence and through the creation of false legal documents, which make their recovery very difficult. This was reported by an investigation by Iraqi television network al Sumaria, relaunched by the ankawa.com website, and reported November 16, 2018, by Fides News Agency.
According to government sources cited in the reportage, Iraqi authorities are aware of the property scams at the expense of Christians and gave all the competent regional departments instructions not to authorize transactions of real estate belonging to members of the Christian component without having first verified, beyond any doubt, that the sale of houses and land is really wanted and authorized by the legitimate owners. The increase in controls has thwarted at least 50 attempts at false buying and selling of real estate belonging to Christians in recent months.
The phenomenon of illegal theft of real estate from Christian owners, registered and denounced in the past also in Baghdad, Kirkuk and other areas of the country (see Fides 23/7/2015), has been able to take hold thanks to the connivance and coverage of corrupt and dishonest officials, who put themselves at the service of individual impostors and organized groups of scammers….
