Displaying items by tag: coming home

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.