The Plight of Iraq's Mandaeans and Honderich's Principle of Humanity

Abstract

Due to persecution, Sabean Mandaeans have fled Iraq in large numbers. Although there is widespread suffering and vulnerability in Iraq, the Mandaeans are a special case, since they have no safe enclave within Iraq to which they can return and their pacifism makes them especially vulnerable to violence. Ted Honderich's Principle of Humanity is used to argue that countries able to do so, meaning wealthy Western nations in particular, should take steps to guarantee the Mandaeans a safe homeland where they can not only live but also maintain their cultural identity.

The Mandaeans

The Sabean Mandaean religion is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the Middle East, whose adherents have lived mainly in southern Iraq with a few also living in Iran. It is independent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It purportedly follows the teachings of John the Baptist, baptism being its central ritual. According to Nathaniel Deutsch, Associate Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College,

‘The Mandaeans are the only surviving Gnostics from antiquity, cousins of the people who produced the Nag Hammadi writings like the Gospel of Thomas … The Mandaeans have their own language (Mandaic, a form of Aramaic close to the dialect of the Babylonian Talmud), an impressive body of literature, and a treasury of cultural and religious traditions amassed over two millennia of living in the southern marshes of present-day Iraq and Iran. Practitioners of a religion at least as old as Christianity, the Mandaeans have witnessed the rise of Islam; the Mongol invasion; the arrival of Europeans, who mistakenly identified them as “Christians of St John”, because of their veneration of John the Baptist; and, most recently, the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein, who drained the marshes after the first gulf war, an ecological catastrophe equivalent to destroying the Everglades. They have withstood everything – until now’ (Deutsch, 2007).

Major changes have happened in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, and not all for the better. Sectarian identities among Iraqis have trumped national identity, and violence is increasing in scope and lethality as a result (Iraq Study Group, 2007). ‘Both Sunni and Shi'a armed groups carry out direct attacks on civilians through suicide bombings, abductions, extrajudicial executions while making no distinction between civilians and combatants’ (UNAMI, 2007, p. 2). No one is immune from attack (BBC News, 2008), but Mandaeans are especially vulnerable for reasons to be discussed shortly.

During the past decade, and especially the past four years, thousands have escaped Iraq, choosing self-exile and escape rather than death and persecution. The vast majority of the Mandaean community have been displaced to locations outside Iraq. There is considerable variation in estimates of the size of the global Mandaean community (Reinke, 2006). But, to an approximation, it can be said that the Mandaean community in Iraq has dwindled from 40,000–60,000, prior to the US-led invasion, to less than 5,000 currently (Crawford, 2008; Deutsch, 2007). Those Mandaeans who are unable to leave are currently moving to different cities inside Iraq. There is now a large Mandaean refugee population in Syria (2,100 families), Jordan (500 families), Yemen (46 individuals)^1,2 as well as smaller numbers in Lebanon, Egypt, Mali and Thailand (MHRG, 2008, p. 4). Hundreds have been killed already and the numbers are increasing rapidly. Forced conversion is happening to an alarming degree. Boys are kidnapped, forcefully circumcised (a major sin in the Mandaean religion) and forcefully converted to Islam. Young girls have been kidnapped, raped or forced to marry Muslims (MHRG, 2008, pp. 35f.). Families receive threats demanding that they either convert or pay jizya, a tax allowing non-Muslims to live among Muslims – effectively a ransom in this context (MHRG, 2008, p. 8). Confiscation of property is becoming a common, unpunished practice. Mandaean houses are being taken in different areas; Mandaean houses of worship are also being confiscated. Often, police and neighbours are unwilling to help. Employment is currently a matter of political, sectarian and ethnic affiliation in lieu of other qualifications.

The government is the major employer in Iraq. Its ministries are divided among the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions, and they deny others, including Mandaeans, any chances of employment. Mandaeans have tried to express their concerns through the political process in Iraq. However, contacts with officials, religious leaders and political party leaders usually end in empty promises. The police are corrupt, often help attackers and play little or no role in protecting minorities.

The Mandaeans' situation differs from that of other minorities in Iraq, as they do not have any identified geographical area as their safe haven. They have no choice but to leave Iraq seeking refuge (Deutsch, 2007). The situation in Syria and Jordan, however, is dire for refugees. These countries are neither ready nor willing to help thousands of refugees, and a humanitarian disaster is imminent. Refuge seekers are denied work, education, health care and, most of all, protection from abuse. Children are pushed into illegal child labour. Some girls are lured into the sex trade, and some are kidnapped and married by sex traders to be sold in other countries (MHRG, 2008, p. 9).

‘Jordanians frequently curse the refugee presence in their midst, blaming the Iraqis for rising prices of rent, food, fuel, and other goods over the past few years. By some standards, Jordan has been very generous, allowing Iraqis through their borders without a visa until recently, and even allowing their children to enrol in government schools. But Jordan refuses to grant the Iraqis official refugee status – meaning that they can be deported at any time – nor does it allow them to work. … For Jordan and for Arab states, it makes cruel sense to discourage Iraqis from staying too long, however. The Iraqis are only one wave among many – Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian – driven from their homes by the region's frequent conflicts. One UN official notes that the kingdom “does not want a Palestinisation” of the Iraqi refugee presence, where it puts down permanent roots. In the 1960s, Palestinian groups set up a state within a state in Amman, triggering the 1970–71 “Black September” mini-civil war. In 2005, attackers later identified as Iraqi nationals bombed several hotels in central Amman. Jordan is also reportedly frightened that the refugees – about 68 per cent Sunni, 16 per cent Shia, and the rest other religions – will fight out their sectarian wars on Jordanian soil’ (Negus, 2008).

Admitting all Mandaeans into Jordan and Syria, especially on a permanent basis, would be a horrendous burden on those two countries. They should not be expected to do so.

The Principle of Humanity

What is the best response to the current Mandaean crisis? Should the Mandaeans be treated differently than other Iraqi refugee groups or not? We propose to address these questions in light of a moral principle known as the Principle of Humanity (Honderich, 2003a, 2003b and 2006), which has been expounded and defended by Ted Honderich, Grote Professor Emeritus at University College London. According to the Principle of Humanity, our policies should be directed towards relieving those who have ‘bad-off’ lives so that their lives are well off. In other words, one should, according to the best available information, take rationally effective means to get people out of bad lives and into good lives.

The Principle of Humanity avoids a classic objection to the principle of negative utilitarianism, namely that one should minimise suffering in the universe. The classic objection to that principle was that the plausibly most effective means for doing so would be to kill all conscious life with as little suffering as possible. Since Honderich's principle enjoins us to lead those from bad lives into good lives, rather than simply minimising some bad sort of experience, it is not open to that objection. All forms of utilitarianism in the last analysis, even rule utilitarianism, make the incredible assumption that morality is ultimately a matter of exact calculation rather than some other less precise form of guidance. The Principle of Humanity, by contrast, is concerned with well-off lives rather than with a utility which, in principle at least, can be precisely quantified. This is what we take to be Honderich's point in noting that ‘there is enough complexity in our situation that the best that can be done is to make judgements directed or guided, as distinct from being strictly entailed, by an answer to the question of well-being’ (Honderich, 2003a, p. 93, emphasis in original).

What is it for one's life to be ‘bad off’? What is it for one's life to be well off? For Honderich, six basic goods define what it is for a life to be well off: decent length, physical health, freedom, respect both from others and from oneself, relationships and culture.

Those whose lives are ‘bad off’ would clearly include those who cannot even satisfy their need for subsistence. This would include very many refugees from Iraq (UNHCR, 2008). Not being able to satisfy one's need for food, clothing and shelter has implications for the satisfaction of many other needs which define a well-off life, at the very least because it reduces life expectancy. Honderich also includes those who can keep from starving to death but who, nonetheless, lack the material goods needed to live in freedom.

Although the points just made would apply to a very large swathe of those living in and fleeing from Iraq, the following passage from Honderich applies more to the Mandaeans than to any other such group: ‘It would be unrealistic and mistaken, given the principle, to object to the endeavours of individuals who choose to concentrate on … people badly-off in that they lack the great satisfactions of freedom, say freedom in a homeland’ (Honderich, 2003a, p. 97).

Lacking a safe enclave in Iraq to which to return sets Mandaeans apart from other groups currently suffering in Iraq. It is one respect in which the lives of Mandaeans are worse than those of other persecuted groups in, or fleeing from, Iraq.

‘Unlike Christian and Muslim refugees, the Mandaeans do not belong to a larger religious community that can provide them with protection and aid. Fundamentally alone in the world, the Mandaeans are even more vulnerable and fewer than the Yazidis, another Iraqi minority that has suffered tremendously, since the latter have their own villages in the generally safer north, while the Mandaeans are scattered in pockets around the south. They are the only minority group in Iraq without a safe enclave’ (Deutsch, 2007).

Mandaeans can no longer expect a homeland in Iraq, and so require one somewhere else. It is not acceptable that Mandaeans be scattered all over the world, as they currently are. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) currently deals with their problem on the basis of individual cases. But doing so overlooks their need for freedom in a single homeland.

Furthermore, carrying a weapon or shedding human blood, even in self-defence is contrary to the Mandaean religion. This makes the Mandaeans more vulnerable than any other group in Iraq (MHRG, 2008, p. 5). It further necessitates their having a homeland in some other country.

‘[W]e desire freedom and power in several settings. Most important are political and other rights in a self-determining homeland. It would be contentious, in the present discussion, quickly to identify these rights with those realized to some extent in western or liberal democratic states. The question is difficult, but what I have in mind are political and other rights denied by hegemonies, occupying forces, tyrannies, imperialisms, totalitarianisms, and the like. We also desire degrees of freedom and power in lesser contexts. Work is perhaps foremost here. There is also the pursuit of one's individual form of private life’ (Honderich, 2003a, p. 88).

Honderich goes on to argue that there are cases in which one should improve the lives of those badly off even to the detriment of the lives of those who are well off. But the Mandaean case, evidently, does not require such a sacrifice from the well off. Note that the Mandaeans are primarily professionals, and would bring much-needed skills to any modern society. The need to take action on the Mandaeans' behalf is even more clear than it would be in a case in which the well off would suffer some reduced quality of life for the sake of those less well off.

This can be seen by reviewing the demands made by the Mandaean Human Rights Group, which are as follows: the Mandaean Human Rights Group (MHRG) and Mandaean Crisis International (MCI)³ request that the international community and especially the US, the UK, Australia, EU countries, the UNHCR and pertinent NGOs, act to prevent this humanitarian disaster from continuing. The UNHCR has an immediate and urgent obligation to start processing more cases for resettlement. MHRG and MCI suggest that the UNHCR takes steps to provide protection for the refugees in Jordan and Syria, and gives them the proper legal status needed to prevent abuses. The UNHCR should consider granting all Mandaeans full refugee status as a group, rather than on an individual basis, and give them complete protection from forcible return to Iraq. During the Bush administration, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom requested Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky to increase options for allowing members of Iraq's Mandaean community to utilise the US refugee programme, and has urged the UNHCR to resume full refugee status determinations for Iraqis seeking asylum (USCIRF, 2006). The international community should try seriously to help the Mandaean refugees resettle in a single country which permits religious freedom so that a community of Mandaeans can preserve their cultural identity.

Other proposed solutions are not feasible. For example, one could leave the Mandaeans where they are in Syria and Jordan, hoping for the situation to improve and working to improve their conditions in these countries. The argument against this approach is that their situation is also very bad in these countries. Jordan and Syria do not recognise refugees and are not signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention (Human Rights Watch, 2007; Millbank, 2000). Moral exhortation, furthermore, would not be appropriate, as Jordan and Syria are not able to continue to accommodate the influx of refugees. Another proposal might be to relocate Mandaeans inside Iraq. Unfortunately, this is also flawed, as the Mandaeans have no safe enclave within that country. They cannot protect themselves without losing their identity as Mandaeans, pacifism being crucial to their religion. Not even the Kurdish region of Iraq can accept them as a group. The Kurds have harboured some Mandaeans (80 families). However, non-Kurds are often denied work. A non-Kurd usually needs a sponsor to be admitted to a Kurdish area, and has to renew permission for residence every few months. In other words, they are denied citizenship. As for the rest of Iraq, ‘UNHCR cannot at this time promote or encourage the return of Iraqi refugees, citing continuing security concerns and other factors’ (UNHCR, 2008).

Conclusion

Genocide Watch has expressed concern for the Mandaeans' continued existence as an ethnic nation.⁴ The Mandaeans are endangered as an ethnic nation; because they cannot remain permanently in Jordan and Syria, their return to Iraq is almost certain to result in their being targeted for killing. Their being forced into marriage with non-Mandaeans prevents their children from being Mandaean, given the requirements of Mandaeism. Their being scattered abroad into different countries prevents them from forming a single community cohesive enough to have a priesthood capable of performing central Mandaean rituals. It is important to bear in mind here that the ability to continue practising Mandaism is crucial to the ethnic identity of Mandaeans. Without a single homeland, it is difficult for Mandaeans to do this. To quote the Mandaean Dr Layla Alroomi, commenting on the situation in Britain, ‘We feel our community, our religion, our culture is slipping away from our hands. We have no priest, if somebody wants to get married in the UK, they can't because we don't have a place to meet. We don't have a temple near water to perform our religious rituals’ (quoted in Crawford, 2008).

The US should give the Mandaeans a P2 visa and resettle them together in a single area, as they constitute an extremely endangered religious and linguistic minority. Proper medical and humanitarian assistance should be offered and financial support to any agency which can provide that help to the refugees. The EU and the US should take active steps to secure the funds allocated to Mandaean refugees. Changes should be made to the Iraqi constitution to guarantee the rights of Mandaeans and other minorities, and the Iraqi government and the legal system should implement these changes to gain the confidence of minorities in a safe and secure future. The Iraqi government should be held responsible for providing financial help for the refugees through independent agencies to provide them with necessary humanitarian support. The Iraqi government should be held responsible for recording and saving the properties of the Mandaean community in Iraq including their archives, documents and history.

Culture, as noted earlier, is part of a good life. In this matter, it is not the Western nations alone, but the Iraqi government as well that can be guided by the Humanity Principle. Given that there is an illegal trade in Mandaean antiquities, such as amulets (MHRG and George Charles Häberl, personal communication), Mandaean cultural patrimony is at risk. The international community, including the Iraqi government, is obligated to help prevent this looting and illegal trade.

The Mandaeans are an indigenous people of Iraq. They are also a religious and ethnic minority facing annihilation. The Sabean Mandaeans in Iraq need protection from the hate crimes that they are facing, and the Principle of Humanity demands that countries capable of providing such protection provide it.⁵

Footnotes

1

All information about the current Mandaean situation, unless otherwise referenced, is from the Mandaean Human Rights Group (MHRG). The MHRG receives its information from the leadership of the Mandaean sect in Iraq. This leadership consists of the General Mandaean Council, which is an elected body of representatives of families in Iraq. It also consists of the Administrative Council, which is elected from the General Council and is in charge of defending Mandaean human rights and contacting authorities for the purpose of representing Mandaeans in Iraq. The MHRG also receives information from the Mandaean Associations Union [], which represents Mandaeans outside Iraq. The Administrative Council includes a human rights section providing the MHRG with information as it happens and which checks MHRG reports for accuracy.

2

As of December 2008, some Mandaean families in Yemen have been relocated to the United States and Sweden.

3

The Mandaean Human Rights Group and Mandaean Crisis International are organisations dedicated to bringing the attention of the international community to the plight of the Mandaeans, especially those currently suffering in Iraq and neighbouring countries. The website for the Mandaean Human Rights Group is as follows:

4

], accessed 29 November 2008.

5

The authors thank Salam Farhan, Barry Stocker and two anonymous referees for this journal for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the article. Any remaining deficiencies, of course, are wholly due to the authors.

References

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(2008), ‘Mandaeans – A Threatened Religion’, BBC News, 19 October.

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(2007), ‘Save the Gnostics’, The New York Times, 6 October, available at: http://www.nytimes. com/2007/10/06/opinion/06deutsch.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=save%20the%20Gnostics&st=cse, accessed 3 March 2009.

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(2003a), On Political Means and Social Ends, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

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(2006), Right and Wrong, and Palestine, 9–11, Iraq, 7–7 …, New York: Seven Stories.

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10.

Millbank

(2000), ‘The Problem with the 1951 Refugee Convention’, Parliamentary Library of the Parliament of Australia, available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/Pubs/rp/2000-01/01rp05.htm, accessed 3 March 2009.

11.

Negus

(2008), ‘Stuck in the Wrong Place’, The Financial Times, 18 January, available at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5bb45c80-b48a-11dc-990a-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1, accessed 3 March 2009.

12.

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(2006), ‘Mandaeans in Iraq: After Centuries of Persecution – Today their Very Survival is Threatened’, Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker, available at: http://www.gfbv.de, accessed 8 January 2009.

13.

UNAMI (UN Assistance Mission for Iraq) (2007), ‘Human Rights Report: 1 April–30 June 2007’, available at: http://www.uniraq.org/FileLib/misc/HR%20Report%20Apr%20Jun%202007%20EN.pdf accessed 3 March 2009.

14.

UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) (2008), ‘UNHCR Seeks US$261 Million for Iraqi Refugee Programmes in 2008’, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/print?tbl=NEWS&id= 478395d94, accessed 8 January.

15.

USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) (2006), ‘USCIRF Letter to Under Secretary of State Dobriansky Urges Refugee Protections for Iraqi Religious Minorities’, available at: http://www.uscirf.gov/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=336, accessed 3 March 2009. (The website also includes the text of the letter.).