By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Managing Editor, Impunity Watch

THE VATICAN, VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, made a phone call to several Iraqis forced to flee their homes as a result of the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in their region telling the refugees that they are in his thoughts this Christmas and using the holiday to bring the attention of the Catholic community, with more than one billion members worldwide, to the plight of refugees who have suffered as a result of the ISIS advance as well as Syria’s ongoing civil war. Frances told the refugees now living in a camp in Ankawa, a suburb of Erbil in northern Iraq, that they were like Jesus, were forced to flee because there was no place for them.

For Christians, Christmas is a holiday that calls for peace and celebrates the birth of Jesus in barn manger in the Palestine in the town of Bethlehem in modern day Palestine, chosen because there was no room for his parents at an inn. “You are like Jesus on Christmas night. There was no room for him either” Pope Francis told the Iraqis in the call arranged via satellite phone by the Italian Catholic television station TV2000.”I embrace you all and wish for you a holy Christmas,” he said.

On Monday Pope Francis denounced ISIS as a “terrorist organization of a size that was unimaginable before, committing all types of abuses… [And] striking some among you who have been brutally chased from your lands, where Christians have been present since apostolic times.” In recent months the Holy Pontiff has denounced all forms of religious extremism and murder in the name of religion.  During a visit to Turkey last month Pope Francis called for an end to all forms of religious fundamentalism and called on the world to focus on achieving the important goals of the world’s great faiths, fighting hunger and poverty. During a visit to Turkey the pope called for solidarity in opposing the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria, “It is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties,” Francis said.

The pope used the phone call to address the crimes committed by ISIS, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes in Iraq and Syria.  “Innocent children, children who have died, exploited children… I am thinking, too, about grandparents, about the older people who have lived their lives, and who must now bear this cross.” “Dear brothers, I am close to you, very close to you in my heart,” he told Iraq’s refugees.

For more information please see:

BBC News – Pope Francis makes Christmas call to Iraqi refugees – 24 December 2014

Newsweek – Pope Urges Solidarity to Stop Militants in Syria and Iraq – 24 December 2014

New York Magazine – 11 Touching Christmas Photographs of Christian Refugees in Iraq’s Kurdish Capital

Time Magazine – Pope Francis Ushers in Christmas with Phone Call to Iraqi Refugees – 24 December 2014

https://impunitywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1418177456-English.pdf

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – In response to increasing economic instability the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has scaled back on subsidies given to citizens for goods ranging from water to heating oil, necessary for surviving the cold Syrian winter, over the past six month. The Syrian people already suffer extreme economic hardship due to the county’s high unemployment rate, hovering at around 50%, crippling inflation and massive infrastructure damage and damage to industry suffered as a result of the country’s long civil war which is entering its fourth year. As Syria approaches the long winter months power outages and food shortages have worried across the country. Despite the continues splintering of rebel groups  and Syria as well as the efforts by the United States and coalition airstrikes to halt the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the region the Assad regimes feels the need to divert funding from Syria’s vulnerable poor populations in order to support its continued war efforts.

Other economic problems such as falling tax revenues, a collapse in the currency and rising bills for imports have also pushed the regime deeper into “survival mode,” said Riad Kahwaji, an analyst and chief executive of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf ­Military Analysis. Although the government’s budget figures are not made public, analysts say Damascus has had to shift priorities to pay for the war effort.

In response to its economic woes, which have hindered the regime’s ability to continue its brutal campaign against rebels and populations deemed to be sympathetic to rebel groups the Assad regime has slashed spending on social welfare, including cutting subsidies for water and electricity over the summer. Last month, the government began to cut funding for diesel and heating oil.

In a rare interview published by Paris Match, a French language magazine, on Thursday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed that he would remain in power, despite calls from the rebels on the ground in Syria as well as much of the international community for him to step down. He also asserted that the Syrian Civil war will be long and difficult because his army could not be everywhere at once, apparently an attempt to justify increased spending on the war effort at the expense of government welfare programs.

“The Syrian army cannot be everywhere at once. Where it is not present, terrorists take the opportunity to cross borders and infiltrate in one area or another,” said the French language magazine in comments apparently quoting the Syrian president.  “It is not about a war between two armies, where one occupies a territory and the other another one. It is another type of war. We are dealing with terrorist groups that infiltrate a town or village. So this war will be long and difficult,” it continued. The text was also published by Syrian state media on Thursday.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the Syrian Civil War, which has created millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, has taken the lives of more than 200,000 people in its four year history.  “We have documented the killing of 202,354 people since March 2011,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

For more information please see:

Newsweek – Assad Says Syrian War Will Be “Long and Difficult” In Rare Interview – 4 December 2014

Foreign Policy – Assad Airstrikes Aren’t Helping Me; Hollande you’re As Popular as ISIS –

Al Arabiya – Syria Death Toll Now Exceeds 200,000: Monitor – 2 December 2014

The Washington Post – Syria’s Assad Regime Cuts Subsidies, Focuses Ailing Economy on War Effort – 29 November 2014