Nineveh Plains

In the fact-finding mission report The Last Generation?: The Situation of Assyrians in Northern Iraq, the Assyria Council of Europe examined prospects for provincial autonomy within the Nineveh Plains of Kurdistan. As Christian communities in the Kurdish region of an Islamic state, the survival of Assyrian culture depends in part on the establishment of governance structures that provide security and a future for their ancient society. With the high level of violence and emigration, this ethnic minority within a region of autonomous indigenous peoples may someday cease to exist.  Given the brain drain of Assyrians to surrounding countries and Europe, their capacity for self-governance is already imperiled.