Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I rise today to speak about the tragic death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. Late last week Archbishop Rahho’s body was found buried in a shallow grave in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. He had been abducted two weeks earlier by armed gunmen. Archbishop Rahho belonged to the Chaldean Catholic Church and his death has sent shockwaves throughout the Chaldean community, not only in Iraq but also in Australia—and particularly in my electorate of Calwell. More than anything else, it highlights the very real dangers Chaldean Christians still face in Iraq. The Chaldean faith accounts for the overwhelming majority of Iraq’s Christian community. Chaldeans are Catholics who recognise the Pope’s authority but who follow Eastern traditions. They are proud of the Chaldean language and proud of their Chaldean faith, which has existed in Iraq since the first century AD.

Estimates put the number of Chaldeans living in Iraq before the US-led invasion in 2003 at approximately 800,000 to one million people. Increasingly targeted by Sunni and Shi’ite extremists as well as common criminal gangs and facing daily persecution, kidnappings and targeted killings, many Chaldeans have been forced to flee Iraq—often leaving behind family members and friends. Yet little has been said and even less has been done to protect this community. As the violence in Iraq continues to spiral out of control, the targeting of Chaldean Christians has continued unabated with hardly a whisper from the international community. The kidnappings have not stopped; violence, intimidation and extortion remain a daily occurrence; and the death toll of innocent Iraqi Chaldeans murdered and slain continues to mount.

What is perhaps most tragic about Archbishop Rahho’s death is that it has become an all too familiar story for Chaldean Christians in Iraq. He was kidnapped on 29 February 2008 by armed gunmen, who ambushed his car as he was leaving the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul and killed two of his companions and a driver. Less than a year earlier, gunmen killed a Chaldean priest and three subdeacons outside the same church, and several more priests have been either kidnapped or killed across Iraq over the past five years. In this instance, Archbishop Rahho’s kidnappers demanded that the Christians contribute to their holy war in Iraq, that a number of detainees be released and that they be paid $3 million to secure the archbishop’s release. After he was found dead last week, Archbishop Rahho’s funeral took place on Friday in the Christian village of Kremlish just east of Mosul.

The death of Archbishop Rahho has had a profound impact on Australia’s own Chaldean community. This is a community who fled the ravages of war but who continue to fear for the safety of their relatives and loved ones still trapped in Iraq and those facing a bleak and uncertain future as refugees in Syria. It is almost impossible to understand what effect this has and the pressure it brings to bear upon this community trying to make a go of a new life here in Australia. Australia’s Chaldean community is an emerging community. It is a community that I have come to know well over the last few years in my electorate of Calwell, especially through my involvement with the Australian Chaldean Federation, and it is one for which I have a lot of admiration and respect. Last year I had the pleasure of attending mass at the newly built Chaldean cathedral, Our Lady Guardian of Plants Parish in Campbellfield, on the occasion of Archbishop Gibrail Kasab’s visit to Melbourne. But, like many other emerging communities, Calwell’s Chaldean community faces many challenges. Highest on the list of priorities are language-specific support and youth services as well as broader recognition and support when it comes to the development of essential community infrastructure.

We have been too slow to recognise the very real fears and concerns that Australian Chaldeans have for the welfare and safety of their families back in Iraq. Our response as a parliament to the targeting of Iraqi Christians has been muted at best. This is a community that needs our support, not our silence. I want to take this opportunity to express my support for and extend my condolences to Australia’s Chaldean community during this very difficult time.