From Mail Online.
People say to me: ‘Is it really as terrible as this? Can these atrocities be real?’
I tell them: ‘Yes. It is as real and terrible as this.’
Qaraqosh has become a place of terror. Its people were shot and some – already dead – were ‘crucified’, a final humiliation and an outrage against the individual, and the faith they had refused to abandon. I am sorry to say that I have seen the pictures printed on these pages, and am sickened.
…Yet it feels that we are alone. Where is the response of the British Government? We have seen nothing on the ground.
Members of the worldwide Anglican Communion are praying over this devastating situation. But there is a desperate need for practical action, too: these people need mattresses, clothes, blankets and food. Children are starving. Families are crammed into churches to sleep on the floors.
We must also ask: ‘What next?’ Iraq’s Christians can’t stay in Kurdistan forever. At some point they must be rescued and relocated. They will flee to Turkey, then Canada, Australia or America. Britain has said it will not take one Iraqi refugee.
The people of this region have had their homes burned and destroyed before. Each time the Christians have survived and fought back, returning to rebuild desecrated churches and their lives. It is hard to see, however, that this will happen this time.
Where is their protection? It is a terrible thing to wish, but I now believe that military action of some sort is necessary, if only to reduce the movement of IS tanks, their soldiers, and their power and authority on the ground.
Even this is not the solution in the long run. We need money, and we need prayer. Without those we have nothing.
Those wanting to donate can do so at the website of the Foundation For Relief And Reconciliation In The Middle East: frrme.org