Dr Williams heard at first hand of the plight of some of the one and a half million refugees who have fled Iraq for Syria since 2003. Many of those present at the meeting had personal stories to tell of immediate family relatives who had been kidnapped, executed or threatened with killing unless they paid ransoms or fled the country.
These, they said, were typical experiences. They spoke of their fear and uncertainty, their maltreatment at the hands of gangs; the breakdown of the communities which had sustained them and the deprivation and suffering they had experienced since leaving Iraq.
Amongst the group the Archbishop met Areej, aged 23, who had fled with her mother and brother after her uncle was killed and their lives threatened and Bashir, a university lecturer who fled after his 19-year-old son was shot and killed.
Women in Christian communities in Iraq were regularly forced to wear the hijab and were followed as they went to church, many stayed away from church for fear of reprisals. Dr Williams told them that their suffering was indicative of a major problem - that the conflict in Iraq had done far more harm than was being acknowledged:
