Displaying items by tag: Yazidis

21 Yazidis who were held by IS have returned home to Iraq from Syria. Most are children, young boys who were held by IS for five years and whom experts believe were likely to have been forcibly trained in IS military camps. The parents of many of these children remain missing. Yazidis are an ethnic religious group. IS targeted both Christians and Yazidis for genocide, although Yazidis were far more heavily targeted for enslavement and captivity. The effect of IS on the children of both groups is profound. Many suffer deep psychological trauma, and were denied the opportunity of childhood. With an entire generation impacted by genocide, many Christian and Yazidi leaders are concerned about the future. The brutality of IS across both Iraq and Syria has left behind deep scars, and has decimated the religious minorities who once lived in these countries.

Yazidis revere the Bible and Qu’ran; much of their centuries-old religion is oral. Thirty-six Yazidis are free after nearly three years’ captivity by IS. They are in UN centres in Dohuk, in Kurdish northern Iraq. It is unclear whether they escaped or were freed; the UN wouldn’t give more information to avoid jeopardising future releases. IS killed and enslaved thousands of Yazidis after seizing the Sinjar area in 2014. Kurdish forces regained control in 2015, but many Yazidis were held captive by IS elsewhere as the group took over large swathes of northern Iraq. The 36 survivors - men, women and children - are being reunited with family members and offered care and medical and psychological aid. The women and children are being cared for at dedicated service points, and will be referred for more specialised treatment. A spokesperson said, ‘What these women and girls have endured is unimaginable.’