Iraqi Christian who successfully fled ISIS violence now faces deportation from UK

Lorraine Caballero
An Iraqi Christian fleeing violence at the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants is now facing the possibility of being deported from Britain.
In an exclusive interview with RT, Sarmad Ozan, 25, said he is appealing a decision from the Home Office to deny his request for asylum. He said they have nowhere to go back to and the office had denied him asylum despite the evidence of Christian persecution and violence in his homeland.
(Reuters/Mohamed Azakir)Iraqi Christians displaced by the violence in their country wait in line to receive aid from a Chaldean Catholic Church truck in Beirut, August 13, 2014.
Advertisement

“I’m still appealing because it’s impossible to go back to a place with nothing. Our house is taken by ISIS. Everything taken by ISIS. Even our neighbors are now supporting ISIS,” Sarmad told RT in an interview. “It’s like someone going back to die. That means if they want to send me back, they want to kill me.”

In June, Ozan spoke in front of Scottish teenagers at a charity rally where he pleaded for understanding from the public. His family had stayed in Mosul when ISIS took over the city because they had nowhere to go, but the terror group forced them to leave with nothing, The National details.

Ozan said the Christians were given 24 hours to either leave or convert to Islam. While they used to enjoy good meals every night, they suddenly had to beg for food each day. Since ISIS took everything from them, Ozan said all they have now is their faith.

Ozan said there is an ongoing “slow-motion genocide” of Christians in Iraq. He recounted how believers are being killed every day in bombings and other attacks and the government cannot even protect them. The Iraqi refugee pointed out that the Home Office admitted that the situation in Iraq is unstable and is advising against traveling there, but they are being sent back to that dangerous zone.

Human rights groups have condemned the United Kingdom’s failure to do more for refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East. The nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have also slammed the government’s failure to properly facilitate asylum processes and its lack of resources.