In Basra, Iraq—a city that once included 7,000 Christian households—only 350 Christian families remain, as the exodus of Christians from the country continues.
In Iraq as a whole the Christian population has plummeted from 1.5 million in 2003 to below 300,000 today, with some estimated pegging the number as low as 150,000.
In Basra, reports Father Aram Sabah, “There are threats. That is why Christians migrate. Whenever there is an opportunity, they do not miss it, and they leave.”