I HOPE that at Christmas we will find time to think about the plight of Christians and other minorities in the Bible lands, particularly Syria and Iraq, where they face annihilation due to the activities of ISIS and other extremists.
According to a recent report in the Independent newspaper the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan regional government have failed in their pledge to defend the Christians and other minorities against the extremists.
The number of Christians in Iraq has declined from over one million in 2003 to about 250,000 today. Iraqi Christians have been frequent victims of murder, kidnapping and robbery. They have had their homes, farms, shops, and vehicles taken from them, and sometimes their children stolen.
The Christians and other minorities are in need of such basic items as food, blankets, and hygiene items, particularly now the Iraqi winter has set in.
May I urge your readers to be generous to those charities which are bringing aid to beleaguered minorities in the Middle East?
Revd Robert Parrish
Rector of Merthyr Dyfan
Barry
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