Iraqi Christians flood French consulate with visa applications

Some 10,000 Iraqi Christians have applied for visas at the French Consulate in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan region where they have taken refuge from Islamic State militants who drove them from their homes, according to the France-based Association for Support of Minorities of the East (AEMO).

AEMO secretary general Elish Yako urged the Government to speed up visa proceedings for the Christian refugees. Only 55 had been allowed to enter France so far, he told a news conference at the French Senate in Paris. “We have about 30 families that have offered to receive Iraqis in France and are eagerly awaiting them,” he said. “Winter is coming in a month,” he warned.

A French church delegation led by bishops’ conference president Archbishop Georges Pontier also discussed the fate of Middle Eastern Christians at an annual meeting with the Government, led this year for the first time by Prime Minister Manuel Valls. Neither side gave details of the talks, which covered issues of concern to the Catholic hierarchy.

The Council of the Muslim Faith in France, home to Europe’s largest Islamic minority, urged all mosques across the country to pray for Middle Eastern Christians at Friday prayers. “This is something that had to be done," said Coptic Orthodox Bishop Abba Athanasios.