ON THE WALLABY- 5th March 2007

" Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don’t” – L.Botts ,”Loose Talk”, 1980)

One of the great things about Australia is our belief in religious freedom and expression and whilst of late the “rat bag” element has raised its head at Cronulla and other places, it is nonetheless I believe an accurate statement.

Therefore it was with sadness that I read of the plight of Sabean Mandaens, a sect I had never heard of before, in Iraq today and which places yet another tragedy in the country that is Iraq.

I’m offering this story from BBC Online simply because I believe the Mandean's story, and plight, should be highlighted. If we are ever to rid our world of bigotry and hate, then we, no matter our faith (or lack of), should walk in others shoes and maybe understand where they are coming from.

IRAQ’S MANDEANS FACE EXTINCTION by Angus Crawford, BBC News Damascus

The Sabian Mandaeans - one of the oldest religious groups in the world - are facing extinction, according to its leaders.

They claim that Islamic extremists in Iraq are trying to wipe them out through forced conversions, rape and murder.

The Mandaeans are pacifists, followers of Adam, Noah and John the Baptist.They have lived in what is now Iraq since before Islam and Christianity.More than 80% have been forced to flee the country and now live as refugees in Syria and Jordan.Even there they do not feel safe - but they say western governments are unwilling to take them in.

There are thought to be fewer than 70,000 of the Sabian Mandaeans spread across the world with only 5,000 are left in Iraq.

Nine-year-old Selwan likes watching cartoons and playing football.But he is too scared to leave his flat. The other children tease him.He has burns all down the side of his face and on 20% of his body.He was kidnapped by Islamic militants who forced him to jump into a bonfire - because he is Mandaean.Now his family lives in a tiny flat in a slum in Damascus.

I meet Luay. He is too scared to be identified and does not want to use his full name.He was dragged off the street by armed men and forcibly circumcised - a practice not allowed in the Mandaean religion.

He is 19 and is now unlikely ever to find a bride from his own faith. Worse, he was forcibly converted. That means in the eyes of those same extremists if he now declares himself Mandaean he is apostate.That makes him a traitor to Islam, who may be murdered. He says he will not be safe in any Muslim country.

Then there is Enhar, raped by a gang of masked men in front of her husband - because she would not wear a veil.

Mazen used to be a prosperous jeweller. Now he lives in a cramped flat, with his wife and children. Water drips through the ceiling.His legs are peppered with machine-gun wounds, he can barely walk.

Shoaki wears a Manchester United hat and shows me the scars where a gang beat and cut him with a knife - he watched his brother murdered in front of him.

Mandaean elders use words like annihilation and genocide - they believe Islamic militants, both Sunni and Shia, offer them two choices - convert or die.

"Some will not consider us people of the book... they see us as unbelievers, as a result our killing is allowed," says Kanzfra Sattar, one of only five Mandaean bishops left worldwide.He believes they are a litmus test for modern Iraq - in a secular state these doctors, engineers and jewellers would thrive.

In the country as it is without law and in the grip of religious extremism, he fears they will be destroyed.

"We are small in numbers, we ask all the governments of the world to extend a hand of help," Kanzfra Sattar says.

He says he wants the West to accept his people as refugees. I ask him what will happen if they do not - he replies simply: "Our ethnic minority and our ancient religion will die off."

The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, says there may be as many as a million Iraqis who have fled to Syria."The numbers that will be resettled are tiny compared to the very large numbers that are here," says Laurens Jolles, the head of a UNHCR team.

He acknowledges that the Mandaeans will just have to "wait in line", with other vulnerable groups.Roughly two million Iraqis have fled to Syria, Jordan and Turkey. But there are no plans to welcome large numbers to the West.The US has offered places to 7,000, while Britain says it will consider every case "on its merits".

So the Mandaeans wait in line.

Shoaki puts it more simply- "Here, we live in despair."

It makes you very glad to live in Australia eh? I wonder if our government would be Christian enough to extend the palm of friendship to some of these people, especially a Bishop or two, so that their religion can continue to exist?

No prizes for the answer to that question!

Carpe diem

Tony

Tony Fountain

Professional Speaker, auctioneer and author

Sydney NSW Australia

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