Iraq’s Christians and Yazidis have tried to come back to their homes, only to find them taken by Kurds.

Fox News reports, “‘For months we’ve been receiving numerous reports from Assyrian Christians and Yazidis that Kurdish forces are using the fog of war to seize land that rightfully belongs to victims of genocide. Each week those reports are increasing,’ Robert Nicholson of The Philios Project said. ‘The Nineveh Plain has never been a Kurdish territory. It belongs to the Christians (Assyrians) and Yazidis who have been living there for thousands of years.’”

The Kurds are keeping Christians and Yazidis out of their homes.

Per AINA News, “‘The Kurds are keeping the Yazidis out of the Sinjar; they won’t even let them bring food and spare parts in for things like cars and people. And they are moving into cities that the Islamic State has been driven out of and saying, ‘See these are abandoned’ and making legal claims,’ Gardner said.’ Many of those making legal claims [for the abandoned properties] are Kurdish businessmen.’”

The Kurds, Christians and Americans fought together against ISIS, but the Kurds betrayed the Christians.

Fox News states, “The clash between the KRG and the American representatives of the Assyrians erupted earlier this week, signaling strains in what had been a solid anti-ISIS alliance of Kurds and Assyrian Christians. The other large Christian group in Iraq, known as Chaldeans, enjoys harmonious relations with the KRG.”

If the lands are not returned, then the Christians will be forced to flee into other countries, leaving very little diversity in the nation.

AINA explains, “‘If they feel that they don’t have any hope there, if they don’t have justice and rights to their land — the lands that they own — then they will disappear; they will leave,’” Shea said. “‘They will emigrate out of there, and that will be the end of diversity and pluralism in Iraq.’”

The Kurdish officials have insisted they aren’t trying to make a land grab of Yazidi and Christian land.

Per Fox News, “KRG officials insist that they are not looking to make any sort of land grab and support the creation of a new state in the the Nineveh Plain.”

Samaritan’s Purse works in Iraq to provide medical relief to the people there.

Samaritan’s Purse explains, “Barden is a 78-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Florida who has served at the Samaritan’s Purse Emergency Field Hospital just outside of Mosul. More than 250 medical staff have treated more than 2,600 patients since the hospital opened in early January, many of whom are women and children. Nearly 1,300 major surgeries have been performed.”

Pray Christians and Yazidis to be able to return to their homes. Pray for many Kurds to stop occupying their land. Pray for a quick and peaceful resolution to this problem.

Fox News: US group accuses Kurds of keeping Yazidi, Christian refugees from their Iraqi homeland

AINA: Kurds Keeping Assyrians and Yazidis From Going Home

Samaritan’s Purse: 78-Year-Old Surgeon Saves Lives in Iraq