In the ancient churches of northern Syria, thousands are making arrangements to leave the country for good. Christians are caught in the crossfire between Islamic State and an unlikely alliance of Kurds, the Syrian army, Sunni tribes and local militias.
In the past two weeks Isis militants have been rampaging through Christian villages, defacing churches and kidnapping men, women and children.
Peter, originally from the village of Tel Goran, is one of those plotting his escape from a region that until recently sheltered some of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East.
“There is nothing left, no houses, so we will go to Beirut,” he said down a crackling phone line from the Syrian city of Hasakeh. “Tel Goran is gone, all of it is burnt. How can we go back?”
It was not only his home that he lost in last month’s Isis assault on Khabur, an enclave of Christian villages in the violently contested strip that runs along Syria’s border with Iraq. He also lost his will to remain in the country.
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Only recently released from the Isis prison cell where he spent six days in captivity with 20 other people from his village, Peter knows that he is lucky to be alive. He asked for his name and identifying details to be concealed.
More than 200 Christians were taken hostage by Isis in the raid on Khabur on February 23. So far, only a tiny number have been released; he is the first to speak to the international media.
“They entered our village at five in the morning, while everyone was sleeping,” Peter said. “Some of them were Syrians, some were Chinese, some Russian — people who didn’t speak Arabic. They took 17 men, three women and one young girl and put us on the back of pick-up trucks with our heads covered. We don’t know why they took us — we didn’t do anything.” As they left they saw Isis fighters looting their houses and setting fire to them.
After being tried in a Sharia court, the prisoners from Tel Goran were told that they were being allowed to leave because they were non-combatants. One local source told The Times that a Sunni tribal leader had negotiated their release. The fate of the others is unclear.
Once a haven for persecuted Christians from across the Middle East, Syria may soon be emptied of one of its largest minorities.At least half of the million Christians who lived in Syria in 2011 are believed to have left.
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For those who have fled, the honey-coloured sandstone monasteries of Mardin have become havens. Set high on a rocky outcrop on the southeastern Turkish plains, the courtyard of the Mor Cercis church faces out across the border into Syria.
Dina Abdullah has been living there with her husband, two children and elderly mother since they left their home in Hasakeh a year ago. For the past week she has been following the news from Khabur in snatched phone conversations with relatives who have remained there.
“My cousin called me and said that Isis had come to his village,”she said. “They took the crosses off the churches and told the people to leave. Those who refused were kidnapped.”
Alongside the fear, there is also a growing sense of cynicism towards the Syrian regime, which has long claimed to be the defender of minorities. “I was pro-Assad at the beginning, but now I realise that he is not there to protect the minorities,” Fadi, 25, said. “He is only protecting his own family.”