Friday, December 17, 2010

Sweden deports 5 Iraqi Christians

"The U.N. criticized Sweden on Friday for deporting five Iraqi Christians back to their homeland as Iraq's Christian community comes under severe threat of militant attacks.

Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled abroad or to the relative safety of Iraq's northern Kurdish region since an Oct. 31 siege on a Catholic church in Baghdad that was taken hostage during a Mass service by suicide bombers who ultimately killed 68 people.

The U.N.'s High Commission for Refugees said the five deported Christians were part of a group of at least 20 Iraqis who failed to gain asylum in Sweden and were flown out on Wednesday.

In a Friday release, the refugee agency called itself "dismayed" over the deportation and called on countries to take in Iraqis from Baghdad, Kirkuk and three northern provinces that the U.N. considers unsafe because of repeated attacks, sectarian tensions and human rights violations."

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