KRG trumpets safety for religious groups

ERBIL, Iraq, July 2 (UPI) -- New provisions in the constitution for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq that outline religious freedoms are a national benchmark, lawmakers say.

Nimrud Baito Youkhana, the tourism minister in the KRG and secretary-general of the Assyrian Patriotic Party, highlighted the proposed provisions before a delegation of U.S. lawmakers visiting the Kurdish region.

"We have reason to be proud and I was determined to make it clear that the KRG has been untiring in its efforts to ensure all religions in the region are safe and strong," he said. "It is my wish that such progressive tolerance expands throughout Iraq."

The United Nations estimates the Christian community in Iraq approached 1.5 million prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, but most current surveys suggest those numbers have dwindled to around 500,000.

The religious-minority community in Iraq has faced persecution since 2003. A rise in attacks against the Christian community in northern Iraq plagued the region for months in 2008, displacing most of the minority religious population.