Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

[Anthea]

PKK not allowed in Sinjar

The PKK will not be allowed in Iraq's Sinjar district near Mosul, an Iraqi military commander said on Thursday

"Police officials affirm that no armed entities will be allowed in Sinjar," Joint Operations Command spokesman Maj. Gen. Tahseen al-Khafaj told Anadolu Agency in an interview.

Underlining that central government in Baghdad remains committed to upholding the Sinjar Agreement signed in October with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), al-Khafaj said: "The instructions given by the Commander-in-Chief [Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi] for the success of the Sinjar Agreement are clear."

The deal was signed under the auspices of the UN between Baghdad and Erbil to clear the region of the PKK.

Al-Khafaj pointed out that the agreement allows only military, police, national security forces and intelligence affiliates to have a presence in the northwestern district located on the border with Syria.

"The military units in Sinjar consist of the army and the federal police force. [...] We've been successful in evacuating all [PKK] headquarters in Sinjar. We'll work with the people of Sinjar, Ezidis and other groups," he added.

The official also denied claims that forces affiliated with Hashd al-Shaabi militias were present in the district, asserting that "there is no such armed group in Sinjar" and that such armed groups "will not be allowed to return" to the region.

Al-Khafaji also noted the ongoing cooperation KRG Peshmerga forces in Sinjar as well as military and security coordination in the district.

Daesh risk

Commenting on sporadic attacks by the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group against Iraqi forces, al-Khafaji said: "Daesh is not finished yet and is present there. Daesh still poses a risk to security forces."

He stated that new tactics developed by the Iraqi security forces against Daesh "sleeper cells" in the region had given fruit. "We prevented many attacks planned by the organization and caught the criminals," he said, adding that authorities had extensive data on the members of the group.

"Daesh has lost the power to recruit new fighters and only protects the fighters it has," noted al-Khafaji, underlining that the group now often fails at its attempts to recruit fighters via blackmail and the Iraqi intelligence service has often stopped the group from kidnapping civilians as well.

Alleging that Daesh had also lost much of its financial resources, he said it also "no longer has a large-scale attack capability against security forces."

Attacks are minor as the group "uses snipers against the soldiers by hiding in the Tigris River and forest areas," he added

On the fate of the families of Daesh members, he said many Arab, European and Asian countries had taken back the families of members of the terror group who had not been involved in terrorist attacks, while others "who have committed crimes against our people and they will be tried according to Iraqi law."

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/pk ... ry/2180510

[Anthea]

Shengal crises cannot
be resolved by military

Faris Herbo, Shengal’s foreign affairs representative for the autonomous administration of Shengal, spoke about the latest developments in the main Yazidi area in South Kurdistan



Herbo refers to the plans of the Iraqi government for the autonomous administration and the Yazidi society and says: “The leadership of Iraq does not want to solve the crisis in Shengal through dialogue. The Kurdish and international public urgently need to intervene."

Faris Herbo says that the autonomous administration would like Newroz to be an occasion for peace and coexistence this year. In the past few years the New Year celebrations in Shengal have been celebrated with great enthusiasm. “Unfortunately, Newroz this year comes at a sad time because the Iraqi government is putting obstacles in our way. The Iraqi army has cordoned off the main roads, so we cannot celebrate Newroz with the usual enthusiasm."

Herbo recalls the developments since the agreement on Shengal signed on 9 October last year between the Erbil and Baghdad governments. “Before this agreement, the people in Shengal lived in peace and security. In March and April in particular, our people returned to Shengal and brought the region back to life."

Peace in Shengal has been disrupted since the agreement

After the signing of the Shengal Agreement, the situation changed, says Faris Herbo. The calm atmosphere in Shengal had been disrupted. “The agreement between the Iraqi central government and the southern Kurdish regional government targets our leadership.

There is now a serious security problem in Shengal. The agreement was promoted as an initiative to improve the situation in Shengal and to solve the existing problems. If that had actually been the purpose, such an agreement should have been made with us in the first place."

Referring to the security forces who are part of the autonomous administration, Herbo says: “There has been no security problem in Shengal, but serious problems have existed since the agreement was reached. The agreement is basically the plan to implement what happened in 2014 in a different way."

In the past five months, numerous discussions have taken place between the autonomous administration and foreign ambassadors as well as various political circles, says Herbo, adding: “All the circles we met have spoken out against the agreement and have declared that they support the demands of the Yazidi people.

Our people have been mobilized since the signing of the agreement and is demanding, with democratic actions and peaceful methods, that their will be recognized and their demands accepted."

Military operations cannot bring about a solution

According to Herbo, in talks with the Iraqi government and other circles, the autonomous administration has always advocated resolving the problems in Shengal through dialogue. “We repeat that: we are in favour of dialogue. The problems in Shengal cannot be solved through military operations.

We have informed the Iraqi government that the project we are working on complies with the Iraqi constitution and is in no way illegal. According to the Iraqi constitution, every community has the right to organize and defend itself. We developed a project according to the legislation and submitted it to the Iraqi government. However, it looks like Iraq does not intend to resolve the problems through dialogue.”

The intention of Iraq is to replace the autonomous administration

Herbo describes the intention of the Iraqi leadership as follows: "Iraq wants to tell us: 'You have resisted and defended Shengal, thank you for everything, now we are here and you will no longer have a role from now on.' It disregards the achievements of our people and our martyrs. It is very difficult to solve the problems that way."

A certain level has been reached in the discussions so far, says Herbo. Important work has taken place. Talking about the developments since 7 March, he says: “Since 7 March, the number of military posts has increased in some places and so has the pressure on the population of Shengal. We made contact with the military authorities in Shengal as well as in the east of Mosul and held many talks until 13 March. However, those in charge have been intimidating our people with methods such as threats, murder and the use of force."

Only those in charge of the military spoke to us

Herbo said that following the resistance that the people of Shengal put up against threats, a series of talks with high-ranking Iraqi military took place. “It was noticeable that all of our interlocutors were from the military while there was not a political representative in the Iraqi delegation.

In any case, it turned out that there was not the slightest intention of solving the problems through dialogue. If they had really been about a solution, at least some political representatives would have been there and would have passed our demands to the Prime Minister."

Less than a week after the talks with the Iraqi side, the Iraqi army has deployed more troops in the region, says Faris Herbo. “Every day, more roads are blocked off in Shengal, and this worries the population of Shengal even more. It looks like Iraq does not intend to recognize our existence, our legitimate rights and our demands. It may be that what some forces in the army under the control of al-Kadhimi are doing in Shengal is not in line with the general policy of the Iraqi government."

There is urgent need to put pressure on al-Kadhimi

Certain circles would increase the pressure on Shengal to such an extent out of their own interests, says Herbo. "Our people will not accept the pressure and the plans for Shengal." He added: “We do not want the crisis in Shengal to worsen. We declare that the problems cannot be solved by military means. "

The forces of Mustafa al-Kadhimi posed a serious threat to Shengal and exerted pressure, says Herbo, ending his remarks with an appeal: “We want to warn our people and all democratic circles about the danger posed to Shengal. In order to stop the threats against Shengal, pressure must be exerted on al-Kadhimi as a matter of urgency. War would bring no benefit to Iraq and the region."

[Anthea]

Nadia Murad’s fight for justice

This week on Middle East Matters, we’re joined by Nadia Murad, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

Back in 2014, as a member of the Yazidi community, she was enslaved and raped by the Islamic State group. Several of her brothers were also brutally murdered at the hands of the militants. Although Nadia escaped her captors, and is a free woman today, her relentless fight for justice for victims of ISIS continues, and her voice continues to reverberate. So much so that Pope Francis said he was inspired to visit Iraq after reading her book, “The Last Girl”.

Meanwhile, since the start of Syria's decade-long conflict, some 1.5 million refugees have fled to neighbouring Lebanon, many of them sheltered in camps along the border. FRANCE 24's reporters travelled to one of these camps, a gated community, where women, widowed by the war, are struggling to raise their children.

And turning our attention to Jordan, where protests have been erupting over a major hospital running out of oxygen, which led to the death of seven Covid-19 patients. The kingdom's minister of health has resigned amid growing anger and calls for an investigation.

Link to Article - Video:

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/mi ... or-justice

[Anthea]

Ottawa makes it easier
to unite Yazidi families

Canada's immigration minister has approved a new policy allowing Yazidi refugee families in this country to sponsor extended family members still languishing in camps in Syria


Emad Tammo, middle, with his mother Nofa Zaghla and uncle Haji Zaghla

The family hopes to be able to bring some of their extended family members to Canada. They say many of their relatives were captured or killed by ISIS, or live in refugee camps in Syria. Tammo was rescued from ISIS captivity in the summer of 2017 and was reunited with his family, then living in Winnipeg.

Canada's immigration minister has approved a new policy allowing Yazidi refugee families in this country to sponsor extended family members still languishing in camps in Syria.

The federal government's initial program aimed to resettle Yazidi women and girls who were directly affected by ISIS violence, as well as their spouses, children and dependents. However, because of the volatile environment, many refugees arrived in Canada with few family members joining them. This new policy extends the time frame for sponsorship and widens the eligibility criteria.

"By changing the policy to be more inclusive of extended family members, we are showing compassion," Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said in an interview with CBC News.

He said it also shows Canada's commitment to not only having a robust asylum system, but upholding human rights around the world.

The new policy is good news for 16-year-old Emad Tammo, who was able to join his mother and sisters in Canada in 2017.

"Iraq's not safe … Killing people and stealing people like that," he said. "Lots of people ask me in Iraq and I want to help them."

His family was among an estimated 500,000 Yazidis rounded up and captured by ISIS in northern Iraq in August 2014. Yazidis are predominantly ethnically Kurdish and follow an ancient religion that combines elements from Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam.

Many young women and girls were forcibly converted to Islam and used as sex slaves or wives for ISIS fighters. Yazidi boys who had not yet reached puberty were separated from their families and trained as child soldiers. Older boys and men who refused to convert to Islam were executed.

An estimated 250,000 Yazidis fled to Mount Sinjar near the Iraq-Syria border, where they were surrounded by ISIS and denied access to food, water or medical care. Many died before a military rescue operation gave them safe passage to Syria.

The United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic says ISIS's actions against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.

Nofa Zaghla, Tammo's mother, and her four younger children managed to escape — without Tammo and his older brother and father — and spent nearly a year in a Syrian refugee camp. In February 2017, they arrived in Winnipeg as government-assisted refugees, part of the Trudeau government's commitment to settle 1,200 Yazidi refugees and ISIS survivors.

As of January 2021, Canada had welcomed 1,356 government-assisted refugees and 94 privately sponsored survivors — all Yazidi women and girls. The $21.7-million program covered income support, the Interim Federal Health Program, and settlement supports such as language training.

Zaghla had no idea what had happened to her husband and two older sons. Then, later that year, photos of a dusty and emaciated Tammo began surfacing on Facebook. They were posted by Iraqi forces who had rescued him after a battle in Mosul.

His case was expedited by the Canadian government, and within weeks, Tammo arrived in Winnipeg, to the joy of the Yazidi community.

Still bearing scars on his side, back and stomach after being shot by ISIS, plus the psychological trauma of the experience, Tammo says he's grateful to be safe and with his family.

"Too long I didn't see my family," he said.

He described the terror of moving from location to location and resisting threats to convert to Islam and become an ISIS fighter.

Tammo said he believes his father was killed, but has heard his older brother is still alive in a refugee camp.

"My brother ... right now, he's alive in Iraq in the camp and I want to help him to get here, and I don't know how."

'The clock is ticking'

Last December, the Yazidi community in Canada and more than a dozen community groups wrote a letter to Mendicino, asking for humanitarian aid for those in the refugee camps, and to fast-track applications that would reunite families.

They still haven't received a direct response, but are happy to hear news more family members will be eligible, said Jamileh Naso, president of the Canadian Yazidi Association in Winnipeg.

Jamileh Naso, president of the Canadian Yazidi Association, has been writing letters and lobbying the federal government for more family reunification. She's looking forward to seeing the details of the new policy signed by Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino. (Gary Solilak/CBC News)

"They've been sitting in a refugee camp for over seven years now, and on top of this now, where they're facing a global pandemic with little to no access to health care, PPE supplies," she said.

Naso said there is an estimated 360,000 Yazidis living in camps for internally displaced people in Syria.

"This is really life and death, and the clock is ticking."

Under the current programs, refugees can reunite with extended family members through the private sponsorship of refugees (PSR) program. Spouses, common-law partners and dependent children can also come within a year after the resettlement of their family members in Canada.

However, some ISIS survivors in this country are unable to use that program because their remaining family members are still in their native Iraq, so they don't fit the definition of a refugee and can't be sponsored.

The new policy will make those people eligible to become government-assisted refugees or privately sponsored refugees.

Independent Manitoba Sen. Marilou McPhedran, who is also a lawyer and human rights advocate, has been working on this issue for years along with several other colleagues. She read a statement on behalf of Yazidis and their supporters in the Senate in February.

Independent Sen. Marilou McPhedran of Manitoba says she wants to see Canada step up to help reunite Yazidi families. (CBC)

"These families remain so fractured, and the incredible additional agony, emotional agony for families because of COVID, it's made the situation for refugees so much more dangerous," McPhedran said in an interview with CBC News.

"In some cases, we're still talking about children, teenagers, members of families where they need to be reunified with their families here in Canada. And we need to make it a priority."

Refugees to Canada are provided with financial support either by the federal government or their private sponsors for up to one year. After that, they can apply for social assistance, which aligns with provincial social assistance rates.

In exceptional cases, income support can be provided for up to two years. The federal Immigration Department says there are currently no Yazidis still receiving federal income support from that 2017 program.

"We've got the flexibility in this policy to accommodate the demand, and certainly by expanding the parameters of the definition of family to include siblings, aunts and uncles and the like, that we will be able to fulfil the needs of the Yazidi refugee community again," Mendicino said.
Yearning for family

Tammo and his family moved from Winnipeg to London, Ont., nearly two years ago.

His mother, Nofa Zaghla, has given up hope of ever seeing her husband again, but still yearns to be reunited with her eldest son. She said she has other family members living in refugee camps whom she would also like to bring to Canada.

"We want Canada to help us to bring them," she said in Kurdish through an interpreter. "Those people, they're gonna be lost."

WATCH | Policy change makes it easier to reunite Yazidi families in Canada:

A new federal government policy makes it easier for Yazidi refugee families torn apart by ISIS violence to reunite in Canada by allowing them to sponsor family members stuck in refugee camps. 2:01

Tammo said he's grateful to be living a quiet life, working hard at his Grade 11 courses, playing soccer when he can — and doing what he can to help his brother and others still held captive in Iraq or living as refugees in Syria.

"They say it's not safe and there is no food, nothing, and all they want is to get out of the area," he said.

"Canada is not the same as Iraq. It's different. Safe."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba ... -1.5959905

[Anthea]

We do not accept those children

Earlier this month, nine Yazidi women were reunited for the first time in years with their 12 children – all born to members of the armed group ISIS who brutally persecuted the Yazidi community in northern Iraq and enslaved its women



The reunification followed months of lobbying and negotiations between former US diplomat Peter Galbraith, the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, and Kurdish officials in Syria. They reached a deal allowing the children to leave the Al-Hol refugee camp in eastern Syria and cross the border into Iraq.

Despite the breakthrough, Yazidi elders have refused to let the children join the small religious community, which considers them outcasts who can never be allowed into society.

The decision has left their mothers, already traumatised by years of violence and atrocities, facing a wrenching choice between keeping their children or staying with their community.
Outcasts

In August 2014, ISIL launched a violent attack on the Yazidis, an ancient religious minority in northern Iraq, when the armed group overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The group killed thousands of Yazidi men and abducted hundreds of women, later holding them as sex slaves. While many have since been freed following ISIL’s defeat, more than 3,000 women and girls remain missing.

After ISIL’s so-called caliphate crumbled in 2019, Yazidi leaders declared that enslaved women would be welcomed back into the fold of the community, but their children were not allowed to join them.

“According to the principles of our religion, Yazidis are those who are born from Yazidi parents. Therefore, we cannot accept children of ISIL. They are automatically born as Muslims according to Iraqi laws,” Jawhar Ali Beg, deputy of senior Yazidi leader Prince Hazem, told Al Jazeera in a phone interview.

Ali Beg described the reunification of the mothers with their children – a step that coincided with the historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq on March 8 – as “bad” and “unacceptable” within the Yazidi community.

Ali Beg said the only solution would be for international bodies to relocate the Yazidi mothers and their children to another country.

The community’s decision reflected that of the Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council – the highest decision-making body in the Yazidi community – which includes the prince, his deputies, and the Yazidi spiritual leader, Baba Sheikh.

“The Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council has decided to reject the integration of those children,” Ahmed Mishko Berkani, a representative of victims’ families and a survivor of ISIL’s campaign, told Al Jazeera.

“For thousands of years, the rule in our religion and community is that only children from both Yazidi parents can be accepted [among us]. And as relatives of the survivors [of the genocide], we do not accept those children to enter our houses,” said Berkani.

Echoing Ali Beg, Berkani – whose family members were buried in more than 80 mass graves in the Yazidi town of Sinjar – called on European countries, the United Nations, and children’s rights groups to relocate the children and their mothers outside of Iraq.

“The Yazidi mothers and their children are victims of ISIL. They cannot be blamed. We want them to live in a safe place,” Berkani said.

Many Yazidis have been granted resettlement in Europe and elsewhere, but the issue of children born to ISIL fathers remains too complex to address for many governments.
New Iraqi legislation

After languishing in parliament for nearly two years, Iraqi lawmakers passed a bill on March 1 offering repatriation to Yazidi women who survived ISIL’s atrocities.

Named the Yazidi (Female) Survivors Law, the new legislation formally recognised the Yazidi genocide and called for compensation, rehabilitation and education for the survivors.

While the law, which was originally proposed by President Barham Salih two years ago, deals with many issues, it does not address the fate of the children born to ISIL fathers.

According to Berkani, the exclusion of any articles addressing what to do with the children was the result of lobbying by members of the community, who called on the Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council to request that the Iraqi parliament delete them.

Bahar Mahmoud, a lawmaker from the Kurdish Change Movement bloc and member of the parliamentary legal committee that drafted the law, confirmed Berkani’s narrative.

“In meetings discussing the law, I stressed that if it does not deal with the fate of those children, the law will be incomplete,” Mahmoud told Al Jazeera through a messaging application.

“Other parliamentary factions rejected any reference to the fate of the children, as per a request from the Yazidi elders,” said Mahmoud, explaining they believed such a reference would create social friction and conflict within the Yazidi community.

Mahmoud said the current law should either be amended to address the issue, or a new bill should be passed.

“I think it is very important that the Iraqi parliament seeks a legal solution [to the problem],” said Mahmoud. She proposed Iraqi authorities issue national identities for the children, naming them after their maternal grandfathers.
‘Complex issue’

Also looking for a solution is the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which told Al Jazeera it is working with the Iraq government and the Yazidi community in an “inclusive manner … to find a permanent solution to this complex issue”.

“Resolving this issue requires all key stakeholders to work together to collectively find a lasting solution that serves the best interest of the child,” said UNAMI via email.

According to Mustafa Gurbuz, a sociologist at the American University in Washington, the only way forward is for the UN to step in and provide the children with an alternative home.

“Given the complexity of the problem, the best way out is the embracement of these women and their children by the UN umbrella, providing them an opportunity to settle in a safe country.

“Even if Baghdad makes an exception in the Iraqi law and legally recognises the children as Yazidis, there is a major risk that these children – especially the males – would face retribution within the Yazidi community for their fathers’ guilt,” said Gurbuz.

“It is unfortunate that this tribalist logic – shaming someone due to his ancestry – is still strong in Iraq. But it’s not a time to criticise Yazidis. The entire community still suffers from a deep social trauma.”

[Anthea]

Ongoing threats from extremists

A new law to aid Yazidi female survivors isn't enough. The Yazidi community says it's only a matter of time before they are attacked again



In a landmark decision this month, Iraq's parliament passed the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, recognizing the atrocities committed by the extremist group known as "Islamic State," or "ISIS," against the ethno-religious group as genocide.

When "ISIS," an Islamist terror group, took control of swathes of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017, it killed, kidnapped and enslaved thousands of Yazidis, while tens of thousands more were forced to flee their homes.

"The passage of the law represents a watershed moment," the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement after the law was passed on March 1. It makes Iraq one of the first Arab countries to focus "institutional attention on female survivors of conflict-related sexual violence."

The bill was hailed by Iraqi President Barham Salih as "an important step."

But even while the law aims to "prevent the recurrence of violations," not everyone is convinced it will live up to its promises. Yazidi survivors say the existential threats that fueled "Islamic State's" genocidal campaign against them still persist in Iraq.

How does the law help survivors?

The law pledges to provide assistance to victims of "IS," primarily Yazidi female survivors who were kidnapped and later freed — but also members of other minorities who suffered the same fate, including Turkmen,

Christian and Shabak Iraqis

Under the new law, Iraq will provide a monthly stipend, residential land or free housing and psychological support to victims. Survivors of "IS" attacks will also be granted hiring priority for 2% of all public sector jobs.



Kidnapped Yazidi children will also receive support and the legal status of children born of survivors will also be addressed.

Moreover, the legislation marks August 3 — the day of a major "ISIS" attack on Yazidi communities in 2014 — as a national day of remembrance and establishes a special government office for Female Yazidi Survivors' Affairs, which will open in northern Iraq's Ninawa province. Ninawa is home to the Sinjar district, where the majority of Yazidis once lived.

Survivors have nobody

Ghazala Jango, a Yazidi woman from Sinjar, said the bill was, "essential for female survivors, given that the majority of them had no one to support them. All their family members were killed."

Jango was 18 when the extremist group attacked Sinjar in 2014. Researchers say that some 10,000 Yazidis were killed or kidnapped during the assault and tens of thousands more were forced to flee into the nearby mountains. Jango was among them, having escaped on foot.


Destroyed buildings along a road into Sinjar

In August 2020, Sinjar was still in ruins, never having recovered from an attack by the Islamist terror group Islamic State (ISIS)

Six years later, she is back in Sinjar, where she works with the Yazidi-run Youth Bridge Organization, helping Yazidi families return to their homes. Even though it has been four years since then Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over "ISIS," the Yazidi community is still suffering, Jango told DW.

The new law will help improve the financial situation of Yazidis, "who have been living in poverty for almost seven years," she added. But, she says, it can't help survivors feel safer, "It is only financial support … it does not guarantee protection,"¨Jango argues.

Many broken promises

Other Yazidis interviewed by DW echoed this sentiment. They are skeptical that the Iraqi government will deliver on the promises it has made.

"I hope this law will not just be a law on paper but will be a practical solution to help them," said Ahmed Khudida Burjus, deputy director of Yazda, a multi-national, Yazidi-led organization that aims to assist the community in the aftermath of the genocide.

"In the past six years, many promises have been made and very little has been done. Yazidi villages and towns ravaged by Daesh [ISIS] still lie in ruins," he noted, using the colloquial term for the group.

It's about more than just rebuilding, Burjus argued, "Everything is related — security, justice and rebuilding and development."

And this is why the new Yazidi Female Survivors Law, while positive, is not enough. Burjus and other advocates for the community explain that the real problem is how the majority of Iraqis feel about the local Yazidi minority.

Devil worshippers

Thanks to misconceptions about their religion among Iraq's Muslim majority, Yazidis have long been labelled "devil worshippers."

The community has a long history of persecution dating back to the 16th century, and many groups, from invading Turks to local Kurds, have tried to convert them to Islam. "I am the descendent of 72 genocides," is still a common phrase among Yazidis.


The Lalish Temple is the Yazidis' holiest site

"Yazidis lost everything and they trust neither the Kurdish nor the Iraqi government," 26-year-old Saud, a Yazidi man originally from Sinjar, said. Saud requested DW not use his real name because speaking out against the local Iraqi-Kurdish military could put him in danger.

In 2014, Iraqi-Kurdish forces were supposed to be in charge of security in the Sinjar area — which is adjacent to the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan — but when "ISIS" attacked, Iraqi-Kurdish soldiers withdrew, leaving civilians to fend for themselves.

"Our neighbors are Sunnis and Kurds. We were betrayed by all these tribes," said Saud, who lived in Iraqi displacement camps for 18 months before being granted asylum abroad. Saud says he'd like to return home to Iraq but believes there are no guarantees of his safety.

Broader reconciliation required

According to German psychologist Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, a professor at Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) who has worked with more than a thousand Yazidi survivors in Germany, the medical, financial and psychological support the law promises will not suffice. True change will require "reconciliation between Yazidis and Muslims, who supported the 'ISIS' group," Kizilhan told DW.

Yazda's Burjus says negative attitudes towards Yazidis persist and permeate all aspects of society in Iraq.

"The majority of the population of Iraq sees Yazidis as infidels," he explains. "When they work in restaurants, no one eats their food — because it's made by a Yazidi."

"That's why we never feel safe," the community advocate concludes. "And because there is no plan to eradicate these threats against Yazidis, whenever the opportunity arises, another extremist group will do it again [attack the Yazidi community]. It's only a matter of time."

https://www.dw.com/en/iraq-yazidi-law-w ... a-56993162

[Anthea]

We demand our rights

Shengal Democratic Autonomous Council (Meclîsa Xweseriya Demokratîk a Şengalê, MXDŞ) insists on its self-defense forces and will resist an outside intervention. The self-governing body, established after the 2014 ISIS genocide, made the announcement at a press conference following a special meeting in Shengal

Recalling that Yazidis have been living in Shengal for thousands of years, the Council pointed out that the Yazidi people have never discriminated or oppressed other peoples and faith communities but have cultivated a culture of brotherhood.

Despite this peaceful attitude, it said, they have been subjected to many massacres throughout history, most recently in August 2014 by the ISIS. Before the ISIS attack, security in Shengal had been in the hands of the Barzani Party KDP and the Iraqi central government, it noted.

"When ISIS attacked Shengal, both KDP and Iraqi army forces ran away. Before they left, they collected all the weapons that the population could have used to defend themselves. For this reason, these two forces are responsible for the massacre.

Only the guerrillas of the PKK and the fighters of the YPJ and YPG rushed to the aid of the Yazidis. This prevented an even greater genocide," the Council said.

390 fighters killed in the defense of Shengal

The Council recalled that 390 fighters died in the defense of Shengal and another 1060 were wounded. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee, thousands were murdered, women and children were abducted, and many are still missing today.

"We have learned from this massacre. Without Yazidi defense forces, Iraq cannot protect Shengal. Regarding our security, we can no longer trust these forces. As Yazidis, we want to live autonomously and freely in Iraq.”

The right to self-government and self-defense is enshrined in the Iraqi constitution, and the Council has been trying for a long time to push through a status for Shengal through talks.

Yazidi structures are to be destroyed

"However, the government under Mustafa al-Kadhimi did not listen to us and instead made plans with Turkey and the KDP. A plot against the Yazidi people was signed on October 9, 2020," the Council said of the agreement on the future of Shengal signed under international supervision between the KDP and Iraq in Baghdad.

"We reject this agreement," the Council said and pointed out that in order to avoid war and destabilization, dialogue would continue to be sought. The cause, however, is not security issues; rather, it is a political problem that can be solved through the recognition of an autonomous status, it said.

Deadline on March 1

The Iraqi government had demanded a withdrawal of the Yazidi security forces and set a deadline of March 1 for this. The Council said: "The date chosen has special significance for us because it is the anniversary of the withdrawal of the HPG guerrillas from Shengal.

We reject Iraq's demand. Our people trust in the security forces (Asayîşa Êzîdxanê) and the YBŞ/YJŞ resistance units. The Autonomous Council protects Shengal and its people. Why does Iraq think it is necessary to come to Shengal?

It has enough forces in the region anyway. Besides, as an official Iraqi force, the YBŞ are responsible for security in the mountains. Why should Iraqi troops be stationed everywhere there now? Doesn't Iraq know that we have holy sites all over the Shengal Mountains?"

The security forces will not be disbanded

The Shengal Autonomous Council concluded: "As Iraqi nationals, we demand our rights enshrined in the constitution. This demand is legitimate and in accordance with the legislation. We have the power and have projects for a solution. We are ready to resolve the existing problem and thwart the plans of the occupiers.

We do not want war and destabilization in our region. Iraq would not benefit from this either. The Kadhimi government is threatening us with military force. Certain regional forces are also announcing bloodshed. These threats do not frighten us. No force can make us return to the state before the ISIS genocide.

If methods other than dialogue and negotiations are used, we will protect our people and ourselves. We will not expose our people to further massacres without protection. Therefore, the demands presented by Iraq are unacceptable and we reject them. We will not dissolve the Asayîş, nor will we allow other forces to enter our holy places. Our faith does not allow that either.

If the government under al-Kadhimi insists on its demands and sends troops against the Yazidis, we will resist. We call on all political parties in Iraq and all Kurdish forces to work for defense of Shengal. The United Nations has not played a serious role in finding a solution so far; on the contrary, it has supported the policies of the Iraqi government and Turkey. This makes the situation even more problematic. The UN and all international institutions must also fulfill their role and prevent a war."

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Demonstrate against campaign

In the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal, demonstrations have been held for the self-determination of the ancestral population against the elimination campaign. The Iraqi government recently set a deadline of April 1 for the withdrawal of local forces

Demonstrations have been held in Shengal for recognition of the Yazidi population's right to self-determination.

The Iraqi central government in Baghdad was again called upon to cancel the agreement concluded with the KDP leadership in Hewlêr (Erbil). Iraq had most recently demanded again the withdrawal of the Yazidi security forces and set a deadline of April 1 for this.

The population insists on its self-defense forces and reaffirmed that they will defend the autonomous structures they established after the genocide in August 2014 at the hands of the ISIS.

The agreement between Baghdad and Hewlêr on the future of again is described in the Yazidi settlement area as a "plan of destruction". The demonstrators made this clear loudly and militantly in their slogans. The protest march started in the center of again and continued through the whole city.

In addition to representatives of various organizations, parties and women's associations, numerous clerics and well-known figures from society as well as members of the YBŞ and YJŞ defense forces and the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê security forces took part in the protest.

On banners were slogans such as "Our homeland, our mountains and our weapons are our red line", "Our will is stronger than the threatening gestures of Kadhimi" and "Our weapon is our dignity" in the Kurdish and Arabic languages.

A statement was read at the end of the demonstration at the destination of Lalesh. It reiterated that the people of Shengal want to resolve the crisis through dialogue. "If the Iraqi government wants to enforce the agreement through military intervention, we are ready to resist."

The protest was followed by a visit to the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê's vigil. The sit-in is now continuing for the 117th consecutive day.

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New Kocho project to revive
Yazidi village devastated by ISIS

A development project providing housing and support for genocide survivors will be launched in the Yazidi village of Kocho, the site of some of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) worst atrocities, a Yazidi nonprofit announced on Wednesday

The village, south of Shingal in Nineveh province, is known for being the site of one of the terror group's most cruel and devastating acts. ISIS militants overran the village in August 2014, holding locals under siege for two weeks before killing almost the entirety of Kocho’s men on August 15 of that year, taking women and children into captivity. Many still remain missing.

New housing will be built close to the village’s “old town,” now surrounded by mass graves, said Nadia’s Initiative, headed by Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad. The project, designed to find durable solutions for survivors of the massacre and “families feel safe, heard, and supported,” will be carried out with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

‘New Kocho’ will also create memorial sites to commemorate the dead, and protection measures for the graveyard where victims initially left in mass graves are now being reburied.

“My community of Kocho has experienced some of the worst atrocities known to mankind. Those who survived the genocide have been waiting almost seven years to return home. Thousands of women and children are still missing in captivity. Hundreds of men and women who were killed have yet to be identified. Survivors of sexual violence and single mothers are struggling to find shelter and adequate support,” Murad said in a statement.

“This project is a critical step toward enabling the dignified return of displaced Kocho community members and facilitating the rebuilding of a dignified life.”

Kocho survivors and the wider Yazidi community bade a final farewell last month to 104 Yazidi men identified from mass graves surrounding the village. Several hundred plots remain empty, awaiting remains to be returned from Baghdad.

Much of Shingal district still lies in ruins, with efforts to rebuild hindered by the myriad of armed groups vying for control of the disputed district. Thousands of Yazidis returned to the area last year nevertheless, weary of life in IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region.

Kocho, as Nadia’s Initiative said, remains mostly derelict, with survivors unwilling to return to their home so charged with trauma.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/01042021

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PKK presence prevents
Yazidis' return to Sinjar

The Yazidi community of northern Iraq's Sinjar is unable to return to their homes because of oppression in the region by the PKK and the terrorist group's extensions, Turkey's consul general in Irbil said Thursday, while new footage once again revealed how the PKK terrorizes local people by using the language of threats and the method of torture

Hakan Karaçay paid a visit to Yazidi Mir (community leader) Hazim Tahsin Beg and spiritual leader Baba Sheikh in the Shehan District of Duhok province, where the Yazidis took refuge after escaping from Sinjar district after the Daesh terrorist group took control of the region.

The mir and Baba Sheikh thanked Turkey for its assistance to the community, Karaçay told Anadolu Agency (AA).

The Yazidis welcome the humanitarian aid provided by Turkey, regardless of ethnic origin, religion, language and race, Karaçay said.

Yazidi people living in the camps in Duhok widely believe that the Sinjar district is still not a safe place to return due to the PKK's presence in the region, he noted.

Underlining that internally displaced Yazidis are currently in a poor condition, Mir Hazim said: "We expect the Sinjar deal between Irbil and Baghdad to be implemented."

The Sinjar deal, signed under the auspices of the United Nations in October last year between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on the status of the region, envisages clearing the region of PKK terrorists.

Following the deal, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it hoped the agreement would be carried out in a way that enables the reinstatement of Iraqi authorities' control in Sinjar, the eradication of Daesh and PKK terrorist organizations and their extensions in the region and ensure the safe return of Yazidis and the other people of the region who have been subject to grave oppression and persecution, first at the hands of Daesh and then by the PKK.

Sinjar is wedged between Turkey to the north and Syria to the west, making it a highly strategic zone long coveted by both the central government in Baghdad and the KRG in the north.

Meanwhile, new footage obtained by the Demiören News Agency (DHA) showed that the PKK tortured two Yazidi people who were abducted by the terrorist group.

In the footage, it was seen that the terrorist group tortured two Yazidis tied to a ceiling with a rope and whipped, in a training camp in the Sinjar region.

Speaking to DHA, Ibrahim Hudeyda, a spokesperson for the Yazidi community, reiterated their call for the PKK to be cleared from the region and said that the terror group's presence in the area poses a major threat for regional security and stability.

Stating that there are many PKK members in the area who are holding numerous Yazidis, Hudeyda said that the U.N. and its agencies were informed of the issue but no action has been taken yet

Regarding Turkey's military operation targeting the PKK in the region, Hudeyda said that Turkey sees only the PKK as a threat against its national security, and does not target civilian areas.

He also called on the Iraqi army to take the necessary actions and said, "If the Iraqi army does not deal with the terrorist PKK, then Turkey should come and save us."

The PKK terrorist group managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in mid-2014 under the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh. Since then, the PKK has reportedly established a new base in Sinjar for its logistical and command-and-control activities. Around 450,000 Yazidis escaped Sinjar after Daesh took control of the region in mid-2014.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regularly conduct cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks on Turkey. Iraq's KRG previously called the PKK's presence in Sinjar unacceptable and urged the militants to leave the area.

Turkey has long stressed that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps are not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats, particularly in Sinjar.

On Jan. 22, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that Turkey may conduct a joint counterterrorism operation with Iraq to clear PKK terrorists out of the Sinjar region.

"We may come there overnight, all of a sudden," Erdoğan added, using a famous phrase he said.

Erdoğan’s words came a week after Defense Minister Hulusi Akar visited Iraq to hold a series of meetings with top Iraqi officials and said Turkey was ready to provide assistance to the Baghdad and Irbil administrations to rid the region of the PKK's presence.
Kızılay distributes food

In response to the PKK oppression, Turkey continues its efforts to lend the Yazidis a helping hand.

The Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) on Friday distributed food parcels to 500 Yazidi families in a camp in Duhok province. The Yazidis are struggling to survive in the difficult conditions of the 16 camps located in the area of Duhok city in northern Iraq.

The food parcels were delivered by Turkey's Consul General Karaçay, Regional Minister for Ethnic Groups of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Aydın Maruf and the head of Turkish Red Crescent Iraqi Delegation, Yunus Yazıcı.

Yazidis living in the camp reiterated that they are unable to return to their homes because of a lack of security and PKK attacks, and thanked Turkey.

https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war ... kish-envoy

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https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/0 ... 0-c85.webp

We Will Never Break

A Yazidi Women's Choir Keeps Ancient Music Alive

With rows of white tents filling a windswept hillside, the Khanke camp in northern Iraq shelters about 14,000 men, women and children from the Yazidi religious minority. They have been stuck here since ISIS invaded their home villages in 2014.

With its dirt roads and drab dwellings, the camp can be a bleak place. But the beat of a daf, a drum sacred to Yazidis, throbs underneath loud, energetic singing, rising over shouts of children in a trash-strewn playground.

Inside a small building, a dozen young Yazidi women are rehearsing folk songs. They sing about the dawn, the harvest and the Sinjar mountain the Yazidis consider holy. Sometimes their voices harmonize gently, sometimes they rise almost to a shout as the women chant.

This is the Ashti (Peace) Choir, founded and led by 22-year-old Rana Sulaiman Halo. She has lived in the camp since 2014, and comes from a family of musicians.

For the first year after ISIS targeted Yazidis — condemning them as heretics, shooting the men and raping and enslaving women and girls — she says it was difficult to sing "because of the news around us, someone being kidnapped, someone being killed." Her cousin is among thousands of Yazidis still missing. Thousands more were killed.

Rana Sulaiman Halo, 22, founded and leads the Ashti choir with support from the AMAR Foundation, a British charity. She has lived in the camp since 2014

But by the second year, she says, "We went back to music again." In 2019, she founded the choir, supported by the AMAR Foundation, a British charity. Several women in the choir were ISIS captives; others have lost many family members.

The choir has performed in the U.K. and provided music therapy to its members subjected to sexual violence by ISIS.

And it has become part of an effort to preserve a vital part of Yazidi culture, in which little is written down, and history and religion are contained within songs.

"This folk music, it's also a kind of affiliation of our religion," says Mamou Othman, who studies music as psychotherapy at the University of Dohuk. "There are special songs that only the Yazidis sing."

Some, he says, are sung during religious festivals at shrines. Other songs are secular, about nature or comedy, or recounting events that took place centuries ago.

As members of the tiny religion — just a few hundred thousand people — seek asylum in Europe, Othman says their oral culture is threatened as families and villages are split up by the asylum process.

Europe is "for the individual," he says, not for tribes or clans. And Yazidism is intimately connected with places in northern Iraq — Mount Sinjar and the holy site of Lalish, where priests also pass down religion and customs with songs.

"There is no community which connects to the land as the Yazidis do," he says. "And because they are leaving their land, their homeland, so they are going to lose their religious identities."

Still, some things make him hopeful. In the village of Bahzani, where religious music couldn't be performed after ISIS attacked, young people from the traditional Yazidi priestly families are learning it again.

AMAR has recorded some Yazidi folk songs and sacred music and given the recordings to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library to archive. And young Yazidis, like the members of the Ashti choir, are enthusiastic about their heritage.

"They are so excited and interested in this kind of music, and this is something very nice that we are still holding our traditional music," says Vian Darwish, a Yazidi member of Iraq's parliament.

After the horror of 2014, she says, gatherings, festivities and singing were muted. But now, "they are trying to go on to heal, to have their normal life and not to be victimized. This is what I like about the Yazidi community in general, that they have that sense of the love of the life and they want to go on and love music, weddings, parties — having normal lives in spite of everything."

For those staying in the Khanke camp, normal life is a distant prospect. Even though ISIS has lost almost all the territory it once held, and much of its power, Turkish forces and militias backed by Iran are among those now competing for the territory around Mount Sinjar. Conflict could flare again. It is not yet safe to go home.

And not everyone in this grief-stricken community feels like singing — or hearing music. After a recent rehearsal, the women from the choir sit on a wall and chat. Ghazal Dawoud Hussein, 21, says her family has no problem with her practicing. But another family nearby lost so many relatives, they don't like to hear her sing.

She treats singing as an act of resistance.

"We are here to send a message to ISIS," she says, "that we will never break."

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/04/98241424 ... 7581834651

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Yazidi holy shrine razed by ISIS
reopened on Mount Shingal

A Yazidi holy shrine on Mount Shingal blown up by the Islamic State (ISIS) group in August 2014 was reopened on Tuesday in a special religious ceremony following reconstruction

"We pray to God for a safe return of the Yazidis to Shingal. We hope that Shingal is rehabilitated.

We pray for peace across the world," Yazidi spiritual figure Baba Chawish told Rudaw on Tuesday upon the reopening of the Sheikh Mand shrine.

Of 28 Yazidi shrines situated on Mount Shingal, eight of them were destroyed by ISIS. The bulk of the exploded shrines are located on the southern part of the mountain.

With support and funding from the Nadia's Initiative, Nabu Organization, Sheikh Mand shrine has been rebuilt.

"The reconstruction of another shrine, Sheikh Hassan located on Mount Shingal near the Gabara village has nearly finished," Salah Hassan, head of the Nadia's Initiative organization in Iraq told Rudaw. "God willing, in the near future, its work will be completed."

Nadia’s Initiative is a non-profit organization founded by Yezidi genocide survivor and Nobel peace laureate Nadia Murad in 2016 to advocate for the Yezidi community and victims of sexual violence.

"Our efforts will continue to rehabilitate other sectors in Shingal, not just the religious sites. We will serve the people of Shingal," Hassan added.

ISIS attacked the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province on August 3, 2014, killing and enslaving members of the ethnoreligious group.

Hundreds of thousands of Yazidis sought refuge on nearby Mount Shingal.

ISIS persecution of Yazidis has led to the exodus of an estimated 100,000 of Iraq’s 500,000 Yezidis, while another 360,000 remain internally displaced.

Link to Article - Video:

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/070420211

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3 ISIS victims found in Shingal

The remains of two adults and a child believed to be burned alive by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014 were found in a village in Shingal district on Friday

A Rudaw team accompanied a Yazidi family to Siba Sheikh Khidir village, where the remains were found in an abandoned house alongside weapons and bullet casings left over from ISIS militants.

“They are my relatives…one of them is my cousin,” Adlan Murad told Rudaw’s Tahsin Qasim at the scene. “After I saw that the house was burnt, I checked and found them. They seem to have been set on fire and killed.”

“We do not know if they were hostages or among those who had fled their rule,” she added.

ISIS militants swept across northern Iraq in August 2014, committing genocide against the Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority who primarily lived in the Shingal district. In the first days of the ISIS attack, militants killed 1,293 people, according to figures from the Kurdistan Region’s office for rescuing kidnapped Yazidis.

“There are scores of mass graves in the village,” added Khatun Salih, who claims to be a relative of the deceased.

The remains have only been discovered now due to fear of approaching abandoned houses in the village, according to the family.

“We are afraid. We can’t move freely. We fear that they could be still here or there could be IEDs,” said Kemal Murad.

Several mass graves have been found in Shingal so far. The Iraqi government, in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the United Nations (UN), have exhumed some of them. A ceremony was held in Kocho village in October to bury the remains for more than 70 people - all women.

More than 100 Yazidi men and boys were buried in Kocho in February after being formally identified.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/090420212

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Iraqi constitution grants
autonomy to Shengal

Iraqi MP Yusra Recep and a delegation visited the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement (TAJÊ) and the tent action which protests the deal between Turkey-Iraq-Hewlêr. The demonstrators have been carrying out the tent action for more than 4 months under the motto “We are all Asayish” to denounce the deal between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Turkey and Iraq. The demonstrators conveyed their demands to the Iraqi delegation at the meeting

Yusra Recep spoke to ANF about their visit and said that the demands of the people of Shengal must be accepted as soon as possible.

SHENGAL RESISTANCE FRUSTRATED THE PLANS

Recep emphasized that the people of Shengal do not want the forces that escaped from Shengal because the people have no trust in these forces.

“The people want democratic autonomy and status for Shengal. These demands are also in line with the Iraqi law. The people of Shengal are also Iraqi citizens. Therefore, the demands of the activists are legitimate. I support them. Because no other force can protect them better than their own military forces."

According to Recep, the Iraqi government should allocate a budget for the rebuilding of Shengal. “We should resolve all our problems within ourselves. We will be with the people of Shengal to the end.”

OUR DEMANDS SHOULD BE MET

TAJÊ member Emşe Şengali stated that they demanded the delegation to make their voices heard. Şengali said they will not leave the Shengal lands to anyone. Moreover, they will not accept any external forces coming to Shengal territory. She emphasized that they do not forget how the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces fled during the ISIS onslaught.

Şengali remarked that they have no faith in any force except YBŞ, YJŞ and Êzidîxan Asayish. “YBŞ, YJŞ and Êzidîxan Asayish should be recognized by the Iraqi government. We can protect ourselves. Where were the Iraqi forces while thousands of women and children were kidnapped by ISIS gangs? Now they are attacking us with their military forces," she said.

The TAJÊ member emphasized that they have been resisting for 7 years since the attack of ISIS gangs. She expressed that the Iraqi government should accept their demand for democratic autonomy.

"We have the right to protect ourselves and self-defense. The YBŞ, YJŞ and the Êzidîxan Asayish are the only forces protecting Shengal. Our demands should be met," she added.

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Few Yazidis returned home

Returnees have begun protesting the lack of basic services

"Daesh [ISIS] attacked us with weapons, and we survived them. But they [the Iraqi government] will kill us with their policies. They do not allow people to return home. All we want is for the government to hear our voices," said teacher Faysal Dakhil.

"There is no water or electricity here. During the summer we are forced to take shelter in the ruined buildings just to escape the heat," said Shirin Khalal.

An estimated 5,000 families used to live in the village before the ISIS attack, but only 65 have returned.

ISIS militants swept across northern Iraq in August 2014, committing genocide against the Yazidis, an ethnoreligious minority who primarily lived in the Shingal district. In the first days of the ISIS attack, militants killed around 1,300 people, according to figures from the Kurdistan Region’s office for rescuing kidnapped Yazidis.

Link to Article - Video:

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/120420213