Michael Ejercito
2018-06-27 10:44:34 UTC
Years after Genocide, Yazidis Urgently Need Help
by Uzay Bulut
June 27, 2018 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12590/yazidis-need-help
There are two types of aid urgently needed by Yazidis at Internally
Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in northern Iraq, according to Saad Babir,
media director of Yazda: psychological support for the victims of genocide,
and basic services such as healthcare, food, water, electricity, heat, new
tents -- and even firetrucks and ambulances. Many Yazidis have died in IDP
camps due to a lack of the latter two.
"When I was in the camps, I noticed that when UN officials came in to do an
assessment, the Yazidi people were not able to tell them the truth about
what was happening for fear of retaliation from the country's leaders." —
Dawood Saleh, Yazidi author and activist.
"We wrote many reports to the UN, for it to consider Yazidis in the camps
refugees, due to their dangerous situation, but our pleas were rejected. The
UN has not reported on the situation accurately and sufficiently to enable
Western countries to help Yazidis more." — Dawood Saleh.
On June 13, Mark Green, administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), finally offered some good news for the
persecuted Christians and Yazidis in Iraq. In an op-ed in the Wall Street
Journal entitled: "Help Is on the Way for Middle Eastern Christians," he
wrote:
"Every day of delay brings persecuted communities that much closer to
extinction. In Iraq alone, nearly 90% of Christians have fled in the past 15
years, emptying entire villages that had stood for more than a thousand
years. The Yazidi population has been similarly decimated. Without immediate
additional support, these groups may be forced to continue their
unprecedented exodus, perhaps never to return to their ancient homes.
"The time to act is now. Christians, Yazidis and other persecuted religious
communities in the Middle East have suffered unspeakable harm for too long.
Their plight has touched the hearts of the American people and stirred this
nation to step up with compassion and conviction. President Trump promised
to provide them with the help they need to rebuild their communities and
restore their hope, and we will work tirelessly to break down any barrier
that stands in the way."
The 2014 invasion of the region of Sinjar (or Shingal) in Iraq by the
Islamic State (ISIS) brought a mostly forgotten community to the attention
of the world: the Yazidis, one of the world's most persecuted
ethno-religious groups. A peaceful, non-Muslim people who oppose bloodshed,
Yazidis have for centuries been targeted for their faith. Their native lands
contain parts of Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Yazidis say that they have been
subjected to 74 genocidal campaigns and severe oppression throughout their
history at the hands of Islamists.
When ISIS invaded Sinjar in August 2014, hundreds of defenseless Yazidi men
and elderly women were murdered. Yazidi girls and women became the victims
of widespread abduction and slavery. ISIS "deliberately tormented the
relatives of Yazidis who were forced to witness or listen over the phone as
their daughters and sisters were abused," according to a 2017 report by
Yazda, a Yazidi advocacy organization. The report also reveals that Yazidi
boys were kidnapped and recruited to undergo forced conversion and military
training:
"In these camps, young Yazidi children are taught IS's extremist ideology
and Quranic interpretations, and brainwashed to hate Yazidism, their own
families and their community. They are trained to use weapons, including
firearms and knives, and made to watch videos depicting decapitations of
hostages and to practice this over dummies, or even human beings."
Since the genocide, according to the Yazda report,
"Women and girls have suffered ongoing sexual violence and trafficking. They
have been dehumanized and sold in slave markers (souk sabaya) organized by
IS's Committee for the Buying and Selling of Slaves or traded among
militants through online auctions. In addition to sex trafficking, some
Yazidi women and girls have been forcibly married to ISIS fighters, and
subjected to forced pregnancy in some cases, and forced contraception or
abortion in other cases. All of these tactics were accompanied by forced
conversion, the forced abandonment of Yazidi customs, and name changes.
Yazidi women and girls in captivity are subjected to constant verbal and
psychological abuse, with severe punishments for speaking their own language
or practicing Yazidi traditions. Insults are particularly directed at their
faith – captives are accused of being 'devil worshippers' and referred to
derogatorily as 'kuffar' [infidels] and told to forget their families and
their God."
Speaking with Gatestone about the situation of Yazidis, Saad Babir, Yazda's
media director, said that there are two types of aid urgently needed by
Yazidis at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in northern Iraq:
psychological support for the victims of genocide, and basic services such
as healthcare, food, water, electricity, heat, new tents -- and even
firetrucks and ambulances. Babir explained that many Yazidis have died in
IDP camps due to a lack of the latter two. On May 25, for example, a
17-year-old Yazidi girl burned to death, while three of her siblings were
severely injured, when the family's tent caught fire in one of the camps.
Dawood Saleh, a Yazidi author and activist who fled, was in Sinjar when ISIS
launched the genocide there in 2014. "Yazidis have lived in the camps in
Iraq for four years now," he told Gatestone. "Most of the tents they live in
are temporary and could not last for more than one or two seasons. These
tents could be fully burned in 30 seconds," he said.
He prioritized the need for psychological support and post-trauma care:
"War and genocide, which Yazidis have recently experienced once again, cause
the destruction of the human soul. Yazidis in general suffer from an
unprecedented psychological crisis. They have lost hope of living a decent
life. I call for providing healthcare and psychological treatment facilities
to help all Yazidis, especially women and children survivors, who have
managed to escape from the ISIS slavery."
Pictured: A Yazidi girl plays in a tent at an Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP) camp for Yazidis in Sharya, Iraq on on November 12, 2016. (Photo by
Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Both Babir and Saleh emphasized that Yazidi camps are not getting sufficient
support. "To the best of our knowledge," said Babir, "although the UN
Refugee Agency and some other international NGOs are providing some funding,
the camps are not receiving any financial support from the Iraqi or
Kurdistan regional governments, except in rare cases."
According to Saleh:
"When I was in the camps, I noticed that when UN officials came in to do an
assessment, the Yazidi people were not able to tell them the truth about
what was happening for fear of retaliation from the country's leaders. I
personally know many friends who were taken to prison by Kurdish authorities
for speaking the truth. Also, we wrote many reports to the UN, for it to
consider Yazidis in the camps refugees, due to their dangerous situation,
but our pleas were rejected. The UN has not reported on the situation
accurately and sufficiently to enable Western countries to help Yazidis
more."
Pari Ibrahim, founder and executive director of the Free Yezidi Foundation,
also noted that not enough Yazidis have been recommended by the UN for
resettlement in Western countries.
Babir suggested that the US help Yazidi victims through resettlement
programs similar to those undertaken by Canada, Australia and Germany. He
also stressed the service Yazidis have loyally provided for the American
military:
"The US government should help Yazidis because many Yazidis have been
kidnapped and murdered by ISIS because of their work for the US army as
interpreters. We think that it is time for the US to help us now, when we
need it the most."
"They are all in need of urgent psychological treatment," Saleh added. "The
US should help Yazidi families to get out of Iraq. For them to have to live
in Iraq is like suicide."
As one Yazidi displaced person from Iraq said in an interview with the Ezidi
Press in 2015: "No matter what we do, this country is our grave."
A Yazda report states:
"Survivors of the genocide, including those who were able to flee before
being captured, yearn to return to their homeland with assurances of
security, peace and stability... However, there are still serious obstacles
to return, including the lack of inhabitable homes and suitable
infrastructure, with entire villages and towns having been flattened...
According to the Mayor of Sinjar, Mahama Khalil, about 80-85% of Sinjar
District has been destroyed by ISIS and rebuilding the district will require
significant investment... a dedicated fund, which would be administered and
supervised efficiently and transparently."
Ibrahim told Gatestone:
"It is not clear that the US will be capable of ensuring that Shingal will
be a safe and secure place for Yazidis to live. If not, the US should not
pressure Yazidis to return there, but rather it should support the Yazidi
community through providing skills, training, and opportunities for them to
improve their lives."
As for the Iraqi parliamentary elections that were held on May 12, Saleh
said to Gatestone that Yazidis' "votes were burned or stolen. None of the
Yazidi parties were able to enter the Iraqi parliament, although the Yazidi
votes amounted to more than 100,000. The Yazidis in the camps are still
being marginalized, even after the genocide."
Saleh's comments are supported by the Yazda report, which says:
"The discrimination against Yazidis in every aspect of life is exacerbated
by the fact that Yazidis are underrepresented in all key institutions in
both Iraq and the KRI [Kurdistan Region of Iraq], as they have little
opportunity to make changes to government policy or programs."
For a long-term solution, Yazda's Babir proposes a protected enclave for
Yazidis in Sinjar and the recognition of the Yazidi right to self-rule. "We
suggest international protection for the Yazidi and other vulnerable
minorities in Iraq, because both the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have
failed to protect us," he concluded. "Also, Yazidis need self-administration
in our territories and security to be provided by our own armed forces. To
be able to survive and live in safety as honorable people, we need to have
the right to self-rule."
Uzay Bulut, a journalist from Turkey, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at
Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
Follow Uzay Bulut on Twitter
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by Uzay Bulut
June 27, 2018 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12590/yazidis-need-help
There are two types of aid urgently needed by Yazidis at Internally
Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in northern Iraq, according to Saad Babir,
media director of Yazda: psychological support for the victims of genocide,
and basic services such as healthcare, food, water, electricity, heat, new
tents -- and even firetrucks and ambulances. Many Yazidis have died in IDP
camps due to a lack of the latter two.
"When I was in the camps, I noticed that when UN officials came in to do an
assessment, the Yazidi people were not able to tell them the truth about
what was happening for fear of retaliation from the country's leaders." —
Dawood Saleh, Yazidi author and activist.
"We wrote many reports to the UN, for it to consider Yazidis in the camps
refugees, due to their dangerous situation, but our pleas were rejected. The
UN has not reported on the situation accurately and sufficiently to enable
Western countries to help Yazidis more." — Dawood Saleh.
On June 13, Mark Green, administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), finally offered some good news for the
persecuted Christians and Yazidis in Iraq. In an op-ed in the Wall Street
Journal entitled: "Help Is on the Way for Middle Eastern Christians," he
wrote:
"Every day of delay brings persecuted communities that much closer to
extinction. In Iraq alone, nearly 90% of Christians have fled in the past 15
years, emptying entire villages that had stood for more than a thousand
years. The Yazidi population has been similarly decimated. Without immediate
additional support, these groups may be forced to continue their
unprecedented exodus, perhaps never to return to their ancient homes.
"The time to act is now. Christians, Yazidis and other persecuted religious
communities in the Middle East have suffered unspeakable harm for too long.
Their plight has touched the hearts of the American people and stirred this
nation to step up with compassion and conviction. President Trump promised
to provide them with the help they need to rebuild their communities and
restore their hope, and we will work tirelessly to break down any barrier
that stands in the way."
The 2014 invasion of the region of Sinjar (or Shingal) in Iraq by the
Islamic State (ISIS) brought a mostly forgotten community to the attention
of the world: the Yazidis, one of the world's most persecuted
ethno-religious groups. A peaceful, non-Muslim people who oppose bloodshed,
Yazidis have for centuries been targeted for their faith. Their native lands
contain parts of Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Yazidis say that they have been
subjected to 74 genocidal campaigns and severe oppression throughout their
history at the hands of Islamists.
When ISIS invaded Sinjar in August 2014, hundreds of defenseless Yazidi men
and elderly women were murdered. Yazidi girls and women became the victims
of widespread abduction and slavery. ISIS "deliberately tormented the
relatives of Yazidis who were forced to witness or listen over the phone as
their daughters and sisters were abused," according to a 2017 report by
Yazda, a Yazidi advocacy organization. The report also reveals that Yazidi
boys were kidnapped and recruited to undergo forced conversion and military
training:
"In these camps, young Yazidi children are taught IS's extremist ideology
and Quranic interpretations, and brainwashed to hate Yazidism, their own
families and their community. They are trained to use weapons, including
firearms and knives, and made to watch videos depicting decapitations of
hostages and to practice this over dummies, or even human beings."
Since the genocide, according to the Yazda report,
"Women and girls have suffered ongoing sexual violence and trafficking. They
have been dehumanized and sold in slave markers (souk sabaya) organized by
IS's Committee for the Buying and Selling of Slaves or traded among
militants through online auctions. In addition to sex trafficking, some
Yazidi women and girls have been forcibly married to ISIS fighters, and
subjected to forced pregnancy in some cases, and forced contraception or
abortion in other cases. All of these tactics were accompanied by forced
conversion, the forced abandonment of Yazidi customs, and name changes.
Yazidi women and girls in captivity are subjected to constant verbal and
psychological abuse, with severe punishments for speaking their own language
or practicing Yazidi traditions. Insults are particularly directed at their
faith – captives are accused of being 'devil worshippers' and referred to
derogatorily as 'kuffar' [infidels] and told to forget their families and
their God."
Speaking with Gatestone about the situation of Yazidis, Saad Babir, Yazda's
media director, said that there are two types of aid urgently needed by
Yazidis at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in northern Iraq:
psychological support for the victims of genocide, and basic services such
as healthcare, food, water, electricity, heat, new tents -- and even
firetrucks and ambulances. Babir explained that many Yazidis have died in
IDP camps due to a lack of the latter two. On May 25, for example, a
17-year-old Yazidi girl burned to death, while three of her siblings were
severely injured, when the family's tent caught fire in one of the camps.
Dawood Saleh, a Yazidi author and activist who fled, was in Sinjar when ISIS
launched the genocide there in 2014. "Yazidis have lived in the camps in
Iraq for four years now," he told Gatestone. "Most of the tents they live in
are temporary and could not last for more than one or two seasons. These
tents could be fully burned in 30 seconds," he said.
He prioritized the need for psychological support and post-trauma care:
"War and genocide, which Yazidis have recently experienced once again, cause
the destruction of the human soul. Yazidis in general suffer from an
unprecedented psychological crisis. They have lost hope of living a decent
life. I call for providing healthcare and psychological treatment facilities
to help all Yazidis, especially women and children survivors, who have
managed to escape from the ISIS slavery."
Pictured: A Yazidi girl plays in a tent at an Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP) camp for Yazidis in Sharya, Iraq on on November 12, 2016. (Photo by
Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Both Babir and Saleh emphasized that Yazidi camps are not getting sufficient
support. "To the best of our knowledge," said Babir, "although the UN
Refugee Agency and some other international NGOs are providing some funding,
the camps are not receiving any financial support from the Iraqi or
Kurdistan regional governments, except in rare cases."
According to Saleh:
"When I was in the camps, I noticed that when UN officials came in to do an
assessment, the Yazidi people were not able to tell them the truth about
what was happening for fear of retaliation from the country's leaders. I
personally know many friends who were taken to prison by Kurdish authorities
for speaking the truth. Also, we wrote many reports to the UN, for it to
consider Yazidis in the camps refugees, due to their dangerous situation,
but our pleas were rejected. The UN has not reported on the situation
accurately and sufficiently to enable Western countries to help Yazidis
more."
Pari Ibrahim, founder and executive director of the Free Yezidi Foundation,
also noted that not enough Yazidis have been recommended by the UN for
resettlement in Western countries.
Babir suggested that the US help Yazidi victims through resettlement
programs similar to those undertaken by Canada, Australia and Germany. He
also stressed the service Yazidis have loyally provided for the American
military:
"The US government should help Yazidis because many Yazidis have been
kidnapped and murdered by ISIS because of their work for the US army as
interpreters. We think that it is time for the US to help us now, when we
need it the most."
"They are all in need of urgent psychological treatment," Saleh added. "The
US should help Yazidi families to get out of Iraq. For them to have to live
in Iraq is like suicide."
As one Yazidi displaced person from Iraq said in an interview with the Ezidi
Press in 2015: "No matter what we do, this country is our grave."
A Yazda report states:
"Survivors of the genocide, including those who were able to flee before
being captured, yearn to return to their homeland with assurances of
security, peace and stability... However, there are still serious obstacles
to return, including the lack of inhabitable homes and suitable
infrastructure, with entire villages and towns having been flattened...
According to the Mayor of Sinjar, Mahama Khalil, about 80-85% of Sinjar
District has been destroyed by ISIS and rebuilding the district will require
significant investment... a dedicated fund, which would be administered and
supervised efficiently and transparently."
Ibrahim told Gatestone:
"It is not clear that the US will be capable of ensuring that Shingal will
be a safe and secure place for Yazidis to live. If not, the US should not
pressure Yazidis to return there, but rather it should support the Yazidi
community through providing skills, training, and opportunities for them to
improve their lives."
As for the Iraqi parliamentary elections that were held on May 12, Saleh
said to Gatestone that Yazidis' "votes were burned or stolen. None of the
Yazidi parties were able to enter the Iraqi parliament, although the Yazidi
votes amounted to more than 100,000. The Yazidis in the camps are still
being marginalized, even after the genocide."
Saleh's comments are supported by the Yazda report, which says:
"The discrimination against Yazidis in every aspect of life is exacerbated
by the fact that Yazidis are underrepresented in all key institutions in
both Iraq and the KRI [Kurdistan Region of Iraq], as they have little
opportunity to make changes to government policy or programs."
For a long-term solution, Yazda's Babir proposes a protected enclave for
Yazidis in Sinjar and the recognition of the Yazidi right to self-rule. "We
suggest international protection for the Yazidi and other vulnerable
minorities in Iraq, because both the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have
failed to protect us," he concluded. "Also, Yazidis need self-administration
in our territories and security to be provided by our own armed forces. To
be able to survive and live in safety as honorable people, we need to have
the right to self-rule."
Uzay Bulut, a journalist from Turkey, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at
Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
Follow Uzay Bulut on Twitter
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