USAID Urges Christians, Other Minorities to Return to Iraq: ‘America Is on the Ground’

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The recently appointed special representative for reconstruction in minority areas of Iraq for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) told Breitbart News he has a message for the Christians and other religious minorities who fled genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL): Return to your homeland, America has your back.

In an interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday, Max Primorac said:

I think the religious minorities have been so beaten and persecuted that they thought that they were abandoned. Abandoned by their own government. Abandoned by the international community. The message that I’m bringing is that America cares. America is with them. America is on the ground. They can count on the United States to be a country that leads the world in helping them return home.

Addressing Christians, Yazidis, and other minorities who want to return, he stressed, “We’re your partner. We want to help you. We’re there on the ground. We’re working directly with you. We have mobilized a significant amount of resources. We are politically engaged this is a priority in our bilateral relations with the Iraqi government.”

USAID staff visiting the Assyrian Aid Camp in Dohuk, Iraq. Photos via Hudson.

Last month, USAID announced more than $178 million in U.S. foreign assistance to support religious minorities in Iraq, bringing total U.S. assistance for the vulnerable communities to nearly $300 million.

Vice President Mike Pence had vowed almost a year earlier to the day to send aid directly to the persecuted minorities in Iraq through USAID and through faith-based organizations that operate in the area.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/11/09/usaid-urges-christians-other-minorities-to-return-to-iraq-america-is-on-the-ground/