Hungary aid allows rebuilding of Christian town in Iraq

Hungarian government aid has been used to rebuild the Christian town of Tesqopa in northern Iraq which has been seriously damaged, public news channel M1 reported on Friday.

A Christian town in Iraq

A delegation from the town was received by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog in Parliament earlier in the day.

The parish priest of Tesqopa told M1 that the delegation had travelled to Hungary to express their thanks to the Hungarian government and the Hungarian people on behalf of the Christians in Iraq.

More than a thousand families have been able to return home, schools have been reopened, a church and roads have been rebuilt, he said.

Hungary to build another school in Iraq

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested that building another school in Iraq should be among the first decisions of his new government to take office after the inaugural session of parliament scheduled for May 8, Balog told the ceremony in which the young Christians persecuted in their homeland and studying in Hungary on a government scholarship closed the academic year.

With this act of solidarity, the government will once again confirm its commitment to helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

The scholarship scheme has currently covered 67 youth, Balog said, adding that the number will go up to 200 for the next semester.

There were 2,500 applicants, he said.

Source: MTI