US HOUSE PASSES LEGISLATION TO AID CHRISTIAN & YAZIDI GENOCIDE VICTIMS IN IRAQ & SYRIA

Good to see that this initiative wasn’t decried as “Islamophobic.”

“Smith Bill to Help Christian Genocide Victims in Iraq and Syria,” Shore News Network, November 28, 2018:

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) legislation
to provide humanitarian relief to genocide victims in Iraq and Syria,
and hold ISIS perpetrators accountable—HR 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018—passed
the House on Tuesday night and now heads to the President’s desk to be
signed into law, after over two years in the making.

“When genocide or other atrocity crimes are perpetrated,
the United States should direct humanitarian, stabilization, and
recovery aid to enable these people to survive–especially when they are
minorities whose existence as a people is at-risk,” Smith stated on the
House Floor before the vote. “HR 390 would ensure our actions match our
words.” (Click here to read excerpts of Rep. Smith’s Floor remarks.)

Less than 200,000 Christians remain in Iraq, down from
1.4 million in 2002 and 500,000 in 2013, before ISIS swept through the
region on its genocidal campaign. Many of the remaining Christians in
Iraq are displaced, mostly in Erbil in the Kurdistan region, and need
assistance to return to their homes and stay in Iraq. After the ISIS
invasion, 60,000 Yazidis fled to Europe, and of the 550,000 Yazidis
still in Iraq, 280,000 remain displaced and only 20 percent have been
able to return to their historic homeland of Sinjar, according to the
Yazdi organization Yazda. Those displaced will also need assistance to
return to their homes.

Smith introduced the legislation in 2016 and again in 2017, with lead
Democratic cosponsor Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA). “Tens of thousands of
religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria were targeted for
genocide by ISIS between 2014 and 2017,” Rep. Eshoo said. “As survivors
return to their homes and begin rebuilding their communities, the United
States government must make it a priority to help families in need of
assistance now, while ensuring the perpetrators of these crimes against
humanity are held accountable. H.R. 390 will aid in these efforts and
send a powerful message to these communities that we haven’t forgotten
them. I thank Chairman Smith for his passionate leadership on this issue
and I look forward to the President swiftly signing this legislation
into law.”

Among other key provisions, H.R. 390 authorizes and directs the Administration to:

• Fund entities, including faith-based ones, that are providing
  humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery aid on-the-ground to genocide
  survivors from religious and ethnic minorities;

• Assess and address the humanitarian vulnerabilities, needs, and triggers that might force these survivors to flee;

• Identify warning signs of deadly violence against religious and
  ethnic minority communities in Iraq or Syria that have been victims of
  genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes;

• Support entities conducting criminal investigation into ISIS
  perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Iraq
  – including collecting and preserving evidence that links specific
  perpetrators to specific atrocity crimes and is usable in a range of
  courts; and

Encourage foreign governments to add identifying information about
suspected ISIS perpetrators to their security databases and security
screening and to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators__.