Fortenberry Urges Immediate International Humanitarian Intervention for Displace Iraqi Communities

Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced a resolution (H.Con.Res. 110) calling for urgent international intervention on behalf of Iraqi civilians facing a dire humanitarian crisis and severe ethnic and religious persecution in the Nineveh Plain region of Iraq.

"Mosul is Iraq's second largest city. For sixteen hundred years, Mosul has been a center of Christian life," Fortenberry said. "Today, not a single Christian remains in the city. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly called ISIS, is advancing a campaign of ruthless and systematic persecution against ethnic and religious minorities in the territory it now rules. We are witnessing an ongoing crime against humanity."

"This resolution calls for UN Security Council consideration of an urgent international humanitarian intervention to speed assistance to communities facing ferocious ethnic and religious cleansing," Fortenberry said. "The world cannot simply watch as the region's refugee crisis worsens every day. We must act for the principles of basic human rights and religious freedom that our international endeavors seek to champion."

The Fortenberry resolution calls for immediate action to facilitate safe access to potable water, health care, fuel, electricity, and basic security for Iraq's most vulnerable civilian communities. It also calls for the development of transparent, accountable mechanisms to prevent the diversion of humanitarian assistance.

Fortenberry serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is a member of the House Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East.

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