Mideast No Longer Home for Christians? Syria, Iraq Have Lost Over Half of Their Christian Population, Says New Report
"The Middle East is no longer a home for Christians."
That statement comes from Christians who have left Syria and Iraq and settled elsewhere, according to World Watch Monitor.
A new report produced by three Christian charities—Open Doors, Served, and Middle East Concern—provides the numbers to back that up.
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The report says 50 to 80 percent of the Christian residents of Iraq and Syria have emigrated since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Strikingly, it points out that the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) leading to its occupation of major Syrian and Iraqi cities was only the "tipping point" of the Christian emigration, which was already ongoing even before that.
The report also says that Christians who have left Syria and Iraq see "little incentive" to return.
The report, titled "Understanding the recent movements of Christians leaving Syria and Iraq," estimates that the overall Christian population of Iraq has gone down from "well over 300,000" in 2014 to 200,000-250,000 today.
In Syria, the Christian population of around 2 million in 2011 has "roughly halved," the report says.
Among the reasons cited by the migrants are the continuing conflict in the region resulting in the destruction of Christian towns, the loss of employment opportunities, and the lack of educational opportunities.
The report says most of the Christians have resettled in Lebanon; thousands more in Jordan and Turkey, and a smaller number in European countries such as Sweden and Germany.
According to Breakpoint, this development is "bad news not just for Christians, but for everyone."
Maria Abi-Habib of The Wall Street Journal agrees.
"The exodus leaves the Middle East overwhelmingly dominated by Islam, whose rival sects often clash, raising the prospect that radicalism in the region will deepen," she said.
The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary stated that in 1910, 13.6 percent of the population of the Middle East was Christian. But the number has gone down significantly through the years. If current trends prevail, by 2025 Christians in the Middle East will constitute just over 3 percent of the population, the Center says.
It points out another irony: While Christianity is receding in the Middle East, it is spreading to many other parts of the world.
