Escaping ISIS 20/20: Iraqi Christian Refugees Escape ISIS
- 8 years ago
An American husband and wife team helped more than 100 Iraqi Christian refugees escape ISIS terror threats in their homeland and flee to Europe.
Joseph and Michele Assad, former U.S. counter-terrorism officers, helped arrange for 25 families, 149 refugees in all including 62 children, to board a privately-chartered plane in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on Dec. 10, and land in Kosice, Slovakia, where they will be granted asylum within a month.
“We are so proud of Slovakia,” Michele Assad told ABC News “20/20.” “They were very courageous to make this decision and it wasn’t an easy one to make, yet they did. … We hope other countries will have similar courage.”
Joseph and Michele Assad, former U.S. counter-terrorism officers, helped arrange for 25 families, 149 refugees in all including 62 children, to board a privately-chartered plane in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on Dec. 10, and land in Kosice, Slovakia, where they will be granted asylum within a month.
“We are so proud of Slovakia,” Michele Assad told ABC News “20/20.” “They were very courageous to make this decision and it wasn’t an easy one to make, yet they did. … We hope other countries will have similar courage.”