Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Coats urges State Department to assist religious minorities persecuted in Syria and Iraq

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U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., has put his signature to a bipartisan letter urging Secretary of State John Kerry to assist religious minorities facing persecution in Syria and Iraq, such as Christians and Yazidis, to find refuge in the United States.

Coats joined eight other senators, seven Republican and one Democrat, in calling on the State Department to provide these minorities with better access to U.S. humanitarian aid.

“We write to encourage you to take expeditious action to protect Christians and other vulnerable religious minorities from the unprecedented level of violence in Iraq and Syria,” the letter states.

“Religious cleansing has reached historic levels in the Middle East,” the letter adds. “Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian rebels, and terrorist groups have targeted religious minorities for violence. In Iraq, Christians, Yazidis, and Mandeans have lived in fear of terrorist groups for the last decade. Now, the brutal Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has openly vowed to end the existence of religious minorities in the Middle East. Accordingly, we urge you to act swiftly to help protect religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.”

 

Posted 12/17/2014

 

 
 

 

 

 

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