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January 25, 2020Hours of apprehension over the fate of four members of a French Christian NGO, three French citizens and one Iraqi, who disappeared in Baghdad on Monday. The alarm was raised yesterday by the charity Sos Chretiens d'Orient, Sos Cristiani d'Oriente.
The four disappeared near the French embassy in the Iraqi capital, explained the organization's director, Benjamin Blanchard, at a press conference in Paris. So far, no ransom note has arrived.
Sos Chretiens d'Orient has been working in Iraq to protect persecuted Christians since 2014, when ISIS took control of the province of Mosul, prompting thousands of Christians to flee their homes. And it is mainly active in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, where many Christians have found refuge.
The missing NGO workers were in Baghdad "to renew their entry visas and register their association with Iraqi authorities," explained Blanchard. They also had to inspect the group's activities in the capital and open a new school: they left the hotel by car, without "having any problems", the director of the organization said, but then they did not return. The leaders of the NGO tried unsuccessfully to contact them the next day and, at dawn on Wednesday, decided to notify the French authorities.
The NGO director described the kidnapped men as "experienced people" who have been working "for years" for the NGO and who were "perfectly aware" of what it means to work in a conflict area. The NGO did not reveal the identity of the missing persons and the French authorities (both Quai d'Orsay and French embassy in Baghdad) declined to comment.