Lebanon welcomes Assyrians fleeing IS massacres

BEIRUT, March 1 (Xinhua) — Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday that Assyrian Christians fleeing the Islamic State (IS) are welcome to take refuge in Lebanon because their humanitarian case is exceptional.

In an interview with al-Mustaqbal daily, Machnouk said that “after discussing the matter with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, I gave the order to allow the inflow of Assyrian refugees from Syria.”

He said that “the case of the Assyrians fleeing massacres meets the extreme humanitarian cases exempted from the recent government policy to stop allowing refugees in.”

Media reports said that around 220 Assyrians were abducted from their homes by the IS gunmen in northeastern Syria last week, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Assyrians were kidnapped from 11 villages in the Hassakeh province, and that thousands more have fled their homes to avoid capture.

The activist group said 29 of the kidnapped were released, while others are to be tried by ISIS’ Sharia court.

Machnouk told the paper that border control was notified of the decision, saying around 5,000 Assyrians are expected to flee to Lebanon, and they will stay with relatives or in homes provided by the church.

On Saturday, hundreds of Assyrians marched in Downtown Beirut in solidarity with their brethren.

The marchers chanted slogans in their native language and carried signs that read: “Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia,” “We demand action from the United Nations” and “Save the Christians in the Middle East.”

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