Evelyn Joseph, a Christian woman who faced a legal challenge that forced her to choose between her faith and obtaining an Iraqi National Identity Card ID, has ultimately resolved the issue and preserved both.
Her ordeal began when she applied for a national ID. The National ID Directorate required her to change her religion in order to receive the document, citing that her mother had converted to Islam years earlier.
In 2024, KirkukNow covered the case and brought the family’s situation to public attention.
After Evelyn and her husband filed a lawsuit, they made repeated visits to courts in both the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad to secure her ID and confirm her Christian identity. Sami Butros, Evelyn’s husband, told KirkukNow that the Duhok court, after reviewing the case and consulting Christian religious authorities, “ruled in Evelyn’s favor.”
The court affirmed her Christian identity and stated that past circumstances should not deprive her of her civil rights.
“The judge in Duhok issued a decision supporting us and ordered that all procedures related to Evelyn’s national ID and passport be completed without requiring her to change her religion,” he said.
Two decades ago, Iraq had a Christian population exceeding 1.5 million, accounting for about 3% of the total population. Following the Gulf War, this figure declined to around 800,000 by 2003. Most Christians have traditionally lived in Baghdad, Nineveh, Duhok, Kirkuk, and Erbil.
Evelyn was born in 1991 to Christian parents and lives in Ainshki village in the Sarsang sub-district of Amadiya district, Duhok northern province. She was 15 when her parents separated.
Her mother, Jenny Yoel, later married a Muslim man and officially converted to Islam.
Under the now-repealed Iraqi Personal Status Law, minors’ religious affiliation was determined by their parents. If one parent converted to Islam, the child would also be registered as Muslim.
Evelyn previously told KirkukNow, “I want to have a national ID card like any other Iraqi citizen. This is my right, and I also want the freedom to choose my religion.”
While her siblings adopted Islam, Evelyn remained registered as Christian through multiple document renewals. However, after she married a Christian man in 2010, authorities revisited her records during her ID application—specifically the period when her mother converted—and again demanded that she change her religion. She refused and pursued her rights through legal channels.
“We submitted the court ruling to the National ID Directorate and proceeded with the issuance process. Eventually, Evelyn received both her ID card and passport, and the issue was fully resolved,” her husband explained.
Dozens of similar cases remain pending in courts across Duhok, Mosul, and Kirkuk.
Butros expressed gratitude to all who supported them, adding, “I especially thank KirkukNow for covering our case accurately and objectively.”
More recent estimates place the number of Christians in Iraq between 250,000 and 500,000. In March 2023, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights reported that the population had fallen to approximately 250,000, with the majority residing in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
The Iraqi constitution officially recognizes Christianity as the country’s second religion after Islam and identifies Syriac as an official language for Christian communities.
