Iraq: Fate of missing nuns and orphans still unknown

S Utoor Joseph & S Miskintah - image: Ishtar TV

Two nuns from the Order of Daughters of Mary, Sister Miskintah and Sister Utoor Joseph, as well as three orphans are still missing. The two Sisters were responsible for managing an orphanage in Khazraj, a Christian neighbourhood, in Mosul, northern Iraq. When the city fell to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Sister Miskintah took the orphans and fled to the relatively safer city of Dohuk,in Iraqi Kurdistan. Whilst sister Utoor remained at the monastery.

The nun returned late Saturday, 28 June, to Mosul, accompanied by three orphans, to inspect the monastery and gather some belongings. Shortly afterwards the two nuns and the orphans vanished. Since then there has been no contact with them. It is believed they were kidnapped. According to unconfirmed Iraqi sources they are still alive.

Patriarch Louise Sako, Iraq's most senior Christian leader, called for the release of two nuns and 3 orphans. He said: “We are appealing for scholars in Mosul and tribal sheikhs to help us release two nuns and 3 orphans, Christians are not party to these events. We lived together side-by-side (with Muslims) for 14 centuries. We still want to communicate and live together."

Nearly all of Mosul’s Christians have fled the city since it fell to ISIS on June 10. Christians throughout Mosul continue to flee the area, as it is commonly understood to now be unsafe for non-Muslims. Mosul’s Christian community is a shadow of what it used to be. There are about 200 Christians left in the city. Before the US led invasion of Iraq, there were about 35,000 Christians in Mosul.