The World Council of Churches has called for a commitment to restoring the social and religious diversity of the Iraqi city of Mosul following news this week of its liberation from the forces of the so-called Islamic State.
In a statement, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, said while every “right-minded person” would welcome the “reduction and removal of the inhumanly brutal IS regime”, it had come at a “terrible cost”.
He said that if armed force is the only or principal response adopted by authorities, “the liberation of Mosul will only serve to encourage a new dissemination and proliferation of violent extremism”.
“However, armed force cannot by itself defeat the extremist ideology of IS…Nor will the conclusion of this military campaign restore the social and religious diversity of the city and the region of the Nineveh Plain from which so many people, including Christians and ethno-religious minority communities, have fled seeking refuge from IS brutality.”
The WCC is appealing to authorities in Iraq and internationally to commit resources to rebuild Mosul and other liberated areas on the Nineveh Plain which focus not only on the built environment but on the communities that were displaced.
“The members of the international community have an ethical, moral and legal responsibility to provide all necessary support to the governmental authorities of Iraq, nationally and regionally, in achieving this future”, Rev Dr Tveit said.
“The awful alternative is a desolation rather than a liberation, to further cycles of instability and conflict, and a region and a world that is less rather than more secure.”
The WCC has called on its member churches and church-related organisations to support those who had fled Mosul and the Nineveh Plain to assist them in returning and rebuilding their communities.
