The Consulate General of France in Erbil, where tens of thousands of Christians have fled the jihadists in Iraq, has already recorded 8,000 visa applications, said Thursday the Bishop of Saint-Etienne, back from a five-day movement Area.
“Some of these Iraqi refugees will be welcomed into Christian communities” in France, said Archbishop Dominique Lebrun during a press conference. He said the staff of the consulate are being strengthened with the influx of visa applications.
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve had raised “hundreds of applications”, adding that there was “no limit” set by the government for hosting these refugees. “Our consulate in Erbil is doing so to make this possible reception when it becomes inevitable,” he added, stressing that the will of France is first to allow minorities to continue live in Iraq.
Bishop Lebrun called again Thursday, as the spokesperson of the Conference of Bishops of France Bishop Bernard Podvin Wednesday and the Vatican Monday to use force against the jihadists.
“We saw there a despair and poignant stories of refugees. (…) It is legitimate to use force to stop the killers and rapists of a so-called state based on terror (…). The so-called army of so-called Islamic state, these are only a few thousand criminals who engage in barbarism, to the systematic slaughter, “insisted Bishop. He referred videos and testimonies “by which whole groups of over a hundred people were arrested, killed and thrown into the Tigris.”
Stéphane © armenews.com