A new project in northern Iraq aims to safeguard hundreds of historic Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac worship sites and reclaim their lands from increasing encroachment by local squatters.
“On the Path of Apostles,” launched in May by the Nineveh Center for Minority Rights (NCMR), plans to protect these sites by building one-kilometer perimeter fences, installing signage that identifies each church and documents its history, and adding security cameras to deter trespassers.
“Not only would we protect our old churches, we would be protecting our land,” said Mikhael Benjamin of Dohuk, an NCMR representative. “We are protecting around 300 kilometers of our land.”
The idea emerged in March after Benjamin visited a sixth-century church in Aqra and was struck by its deteriorating condition. He recorded an impromptu video showing crumbling stones scattered across the church grounds and describing the lack of any protection against looters or squatters.
Support for the initiative grew quickly among church leaders. In May, Benjamin presented the proposal to Archbishop Mikhaeel Najeeb of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Later that month, he joined a delegation to brief Mar Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.
“There are around 250 to 300 monasteries like this one throughout northern Iraq,” Benjamin said in the video. “They are all like this one — abandoned and neglected. Anyone can come in to destroy and damage them however they wish.”
Efforts to restore and protect these sites are not new, but church leaders say removing families who have settled on church lands has been a persistent challenge. Some occupants demand compensation to leave; others refuse outright, even when shown police orders — orders that are rarely enforced, NCMR told the Journal.
The organization is currently surveying sites and raising funds for the project. Its team has assessed seven Assyrian villages so far.
“This is saving a piece of our land,” Benjamin said. “This is a good way to say, ‘This is our land, we’ve been here and we still are here.’”
