To what extent can US aid help Iraq’s minorities?
US financial aid to Iraqi religious minorities in the Ninevah Plains brings them hope and raises their expectations about the future of their homeland in northern Iraq.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi minorities have warmly welcomed the Oct. 16 announcement by the US State Department that it would be providing $178 million in additional aid for ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq.
Murad Ismael, the executive director of Yazda, a global Yazidi organization, wrote on his Facebook page, “Thank you, America, because you are the mother of persecuted minorities. … The United States today stands with the Yazidi people … this is not something new for America, but the Yazidis really appreciate this stand.”
Mona Yako, an expert focusing on the protection of minorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, welcomed the size and timing of the US aid. She also stressed to Al-Monitor that such aid must be disbursed fairly, be based on priorities and be free of corruption.
Yako said that Christians in the Ninevah Plains were widely disappointed when the region was taken over by the Islamic State (IS).
