Christians and Yazidis in Iraq: unwanted guests in their own country

One month ago we witnessed heart-wrenching media images from Iraq of the displacement of 200,000 Iraqi Christians and 50,000 of their Yazidis neighbours by jihadi warriors of the Wahhabi-inspired Islamic State (IS). This human tragedy has dropped out of the headlines. But, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stated recently: IS fighters are “systematically targeting men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation and are ruthlessly carrying out widespread ethnic and religious cleansing ...  Such persecution would amount to crimes against humanity.” I travelled extensively in northern Iraq last month, and encountered a profound sense of despair in all sectors of Christian and Yazidi society. “Please, take us