Official Source assures safety of Christians in Lebanon as embassy monitors situation

Baghdad – INA

An official source confirmed on Wednesday that Iraqi Christians residing in Lebanon are safely located in northern Beirut, an area deemed entirely secure. The Iraqi embassy is actively monitoring their situation.

In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the source clarified that “the individual who circulated a video appealing to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for the urgent evacuation of Iraqi Christians and other communities stranded in Lebanon resides in Sweden and has no connections to the Christian community in Beirut; his assertions are inaccurate and misrepresent the current circumstances.”

The source further elaborated that “the Christians living in Lebanon are settled in northern Beirut, which is completely safe. The embassy has previously engaged with these individuals, who hold UN residency permits, and they are either awaiting immigration to other countries or have established lives in Lebanon with no intention of returning to Iraq.”

The source emphasized that “the embassy’s communication lines have been open as hotlines throughout the ongoing crisis, and we have not received a single request from any Christian for repatriation or shelter.”

Additionally, the embassy has reached out to Christian family groups and offered free return flights to those wishing to return to Iraq, yet no such requests have been received.

Moreover, the source indicated that “the embassy contacted Christian families to gather more information regarding the video, and they confirmed the accuracy of our statements, asserting that the individual in question is unknown to them. They are awaiting sponsorship opportunities to relocate abroad, expressing interest in traveling to Canada or the United States, rather than returning to Iraq.”

Earlier, an individual released a video urging the Prime Minister to direct relevant authorities to facilitate the evacuation of Iraqi Christians from Lebanon, stating: “On behalf of myself and the Chaldean Assembly, I urgently appeal to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to instruct the appropriate authorities to conduct an immediate evacuation of our Iraqi Christians and other communities stranded in brotherly Lebanon, who wish to leave due to the precarious conditions and the dire situation faced by our compatriots there.”