Pope supports Nineveh Relief doctors caring for displaced Iraqis

(Vatican Radio) As Iraqi government forces step up military efforts to take back towns in the north and west of the country held by so-called Islamic State fighters, doctors in the city of Erbil struggle to provide vital support to displaced families fleeing from the conflict.

The Humanitarian “Nineveh Relief” Organization is an independent, non-governmental organisation founded in November 2015 to provide medical services to all displaced people in the Kurdistan region, regardless of their religion and ethnicity.

Wissam Elias is one of the doctors working for the organisation which Pope Francis has also supported in a personal way by helping provide transport for medical supplies to Iraq.

Listen to Philippa HItchen’s interview with Dr Elias….. 

HNRO runs two primary health care units providing different services, such as pediatric care, dental and ophthalmic services, medical tests and medicines for the internally displaced people. While other NGOs in the region provide food and others essential supplies such as shelter and blankets, only HNRO and one other Church organisation provides health care those who have lost everything.

Dr Elias says that most of those fleeing from IS are Christians from Mosul and the surrounding region but over the last few months the organisation has been receiving people from other cities in Iraq, including Tikrit and Ramadi.

He says many of them are facing health complications connected to trauma and psychological stress as a result of losing everything and not being able to find work or sufficient resources. Many of them have been there for two years now and are trying to find ways of leaving the country.

Dr Elias notes that since the start of their work, Pope Francis has been supporting the organsiation following a phone call that he made to their president Fr Benham Benoka. “He said he will never let us down”, Dr Elias says and explains how the Pope has recently signed the necessary papers to pay for deliveries of medical supplies in containers coming from an American NGO.  “He kept his promise to us, so we feel blessed by this”, Dr Elias says.