In a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph printed on Sept 2, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali has urged immediate military action in Iraq to save the country’s religious minorities from ISIS.
SIR – Iraq could become another Rwanda, as Archbishop John Sentamu warns (The Daily Telegraph, September 1), but a more generous asylum policy is only one step that must be taken.
It is true that some refugees will not be able to return to their homes and must be sheltered in neighbouring countries and further afield, but this must not result in precisely the sort of “cleansing” Isil wants.
An international force must be deployed under UN auspices to secure the future of Christians, Yazidis and others within Iraq. There must also be immediate negotiations, without preconditions, to end the civil war in Syria.
Iraq’s future depends on a comprehensive agreement between Sunni and Shia; protection for religious and ethnic minorities must be part of such an agreement. Without this, no one is safe.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali
London W1
