Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8414 Plough Quarterly • Autumn 2016 infrastructure has been going downhill for twenty-five years. Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, had just begun to emerge from this devasta- tion; we saw many signs of recent development and urbanization. But that mostly ground to a halt with the emergence of ISIS. Though this region borders ISIS strongholds, thousands of displaced people have sought refuge in its relatively safety, and even Christians from Baghdad have found it a temporary haven. This influx, along with increasing military expen- ditures, has caused intense economic pressure. On top of that, almost everyone we spoke to complained of corruption and the looting of state funds. We visited several camps for displaced people – Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis. Outside the camps, sheltering wherever they could find space, were Christians from Mosul, the Nineveh plain, and Baghdad. The citizens of Kurdistan, though of different religions, have opened schools, halls, churches, and uninhabited houses to accommodate the torrent of refugees. Still, many end up on the streets, sleeping on the ground in people’s yards and public parks. We heard horrific stories of evictions from people who had left behind property, posses- sions, businesses, churches, and the graves of loved ones. It is hard to forget the story of one elderly woman who told us she had tripped and fallen when ISIS attacked her village; her legs have been paralyzed ever since. One family had already migrated within Iraq three times, fleeing first from skirmishes between ISIS and the Peshmerga, the Kurdish army, in their hometown, Qaraqosh. They took refuge in Sharanish, a remote village near the Turkish border, only to come under fire from Turkish airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants. An eighty-five-year-old widow told us how she returned to her home in Mosul after visiting relatives. She didn’t know what had happened but saw that there were no Chris- tians and that all the men were bearded. She went and asked an imam what had happened to all the Christians. He replied that they all had to become Muslims. She said, “But I don’t want to become a Muslim.” To which he said, “Then you will be killed.” She is now being cared for by the church in a small village in Kurdistan. We also met people who had been kid- napped for ransom. One Christian man from Baghdad was kidnapped by his own neighbor, a man he had thought was a friend. He told us about the insults, false accusations, and brutal treatment he endured. A full week after payment of the ransom, he was finally released. A Christian woman told us about the day she set out to fetch her son from school. Since it looked like rain, she had brought along her umbrella. On the way, a car pulled up beside her and three armed men got out. They trained their machine guns on her and ordered her into the car. When she refused, one of them caught her by her long hair, wrapped his beefy hand in it, and yanked so vigorously that it was pulled out at the roots. As they tried to push her into the car, she prayed silently to the Virgin Mary, pleading for help. Unexpectedly, the umbrella popped open, momentarily making a barrier between her and her assail- ants. She broke free and fled to the nearest doorway as the men opened fire, hitting the The Al-Amal Hope Center, an unfinished building in Erbil, houses Iraqis who fled Mosul after ISIS militants took control of the area.