Date: 25-03-2015
No; 400
Honorable Laurent Fabius
Foreign Minister
Republic of France
Dear Minister Fabius,
On behalf of the Assyrian Universal Alliance and our affiliate organizations worldwide I thank you for being on the side of the persecuted minorities and taking initiative to call on the United Nations Security Council to meet and discuss the plight of the Assyrians and other ethnoreligious minorities in the Middle East.
One hundred years ago, during World War I, many Assyrian in the Middle East were displaced and massacred. Their culture, heritage, books, beliefs and traditions were attacked and destroyed in an act of ethnic cleansing. the genocide committed against my people, the Assyrians, nearly obliterated a thriving and ancient nation, which had maintained itself in the face of many adversities prior to that time.
Today, history once again is repeating itself in Syria and Iraq. I still remember the stories my grandmother would tell me, describing the heinous acts committed against our family and other Assyrians. I never imagined that one day I would witness similar genocidal acts occurring in the region. The difference between the genocide of the last century and the current ongoing atrocities is the immediate global awareness of the dire situation faced by countless innocent souls. Without any protection and assistance, the indigenous Assyrians are left to defend themselves with minimal means against the well-equipped brutal forces of ISIS.
We expect the United Nations to take immediate and meaningful action to protect the indigenous Assyrians, who have contributed greatly to world civilization and humanity. As such, I request your attention to the following important matters that will assist the Assyrians in Iraq and Syria:
- Establish a Safe Zone in Iraq’s Nineveh Plain and in Syria’s Khabour valley,
- Enable and assist the Assyrians to defend their ancestral homes and families,
- Provide relief aid to Assyrians in order to stabilize their conditions; and
- Assist the internally-displaced populations and refugees so they can return to their homes and to rebuild their life.
We look forward to the outcome of the Security Council meeting, which has the potential to bring much-needed help to all the ethnoreligious minorities in the Middle East.
Respectfully,
Yonathan Betkolia
Secretary General Assyrian Universal Alliance
CC: Mr. François Delattre Permanent Representative of France and President of the Security Council