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Iraq-Sinjar
“They were abducting young girls to present them as gifts to [Islamic State] IS fighters or to sell them in slave markets. They said the Yazidis are infidels.” recalls Bakiza Saleh. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
The 50-year-old is not the only woman in Mam Rashan camp, in Iraq’s northern Nineveh governorate, left in the dark over the fates of loved ones who were taken captive by IS in 2014. Her suffering is shared with the rest of the Yazidi and Turkmen survivors in the camp.
One thing that sets Saleh apart, however, is that she has seen the return of some of her loved ones—her five daughters and 9-year-old son. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Beyond the question of a safe return, the other struggle that will endure for any former IS captives is around the stigma such a fact brings with it, in a deeply conservative community.
Mam Rashan is one of a total of 28 similar encampments in the country. The number of camps was previously far higher, but the Iraqi government has been rashly closing them down over the past year. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Recent developments involving a host of armed state and non-state actors in the historically Yazidi area of Sinjar, also part of Nineveh governorate, indicate that the displaced Yazidis’ wait for a more stable return home will be further protracted. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Sexual slavery
Saleh recalls how IS took control of her village, Hatameya. She explains, “The group’s commanders ordered that the men and boys above [the age of] 10 be captured. They took my husband and 11-year-old son. We have no idea where they are.”
In August 2014, IS attacked the Yazidi community in Iraq’s northern Sinjar district, in a campaign acknowledged internationally as genocidal. Testimonies recorded by the UN suggest that while men may have been subject to mass executions, “boys were taken to IS training camps where they were indoctrinated.” Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
As for Saleh, she says IS militants then sent her and her five daughters and 9-year-old son Daham to Badush prison in Mosul, a major city in northern Iraq. Later, she and her five girls were all transferred by IS militants to Syria, and abducted into sexual slavery. “For two years, they sold my girls from one man to the other, my beautiful girls became their slaves,” she cries.
Dubbing the Yazidis, a religious minority, as “infidels,” IS endorsed “taking their women as concubines” as a “firmly established aspect of sharia.” The group even published pamphlets for their militants with tips on enslaving and raping captives. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Emigrating to Germany
While IS may have been largely defeated in the region, there is no such visible conclusion to the work of locating and returning to safety those kidnapped at their hands. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
The Duhok-based Yazidi Rescue Office is one body tasked with this work. Through dealing with mediators in Syria, it has facilitated the liberation of 3,537, out of the 6,417 known Yazidi captives. These exchanges occur in return for sums of money that can range from 3,000 to 10,000 USD per person. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
One staff member at the rescue office, Abdullah Sharim, said that the money paid to liberate Yazidis “is provided by the families of the victims or some donors.” Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
In early 2016, the office negotiated the release and return of two of Saleh’s daughters, aged 15 and 17, who were later transferred to Germany via the Baden Württemberg program launched in 2014. The program has provided help to some 1,100 women and children who survived IS captivity—including 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad.
As for Saleh, she remained in captivity until November 2016, when she was freed by the rescue office along with her youngest son and two other daughters. Months later came the release of the last one of her daughters. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Despite not seeing her two daughters, who emigrated to Germany, for seven years, Saleh says she is happy, “They are in a safe place now, far from the hell of this country.” Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Iraqi authorities shut down camps
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Iraq still has around 1.22 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Mindful of these numbers, Baghdad has, since late 2020, started closing down camps around the country under the pretext that security has become more stable in Iraq. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
The move has drawn much criticism from the UN and international rights groups, who say “the closures have been conducted without adequate notice and consultations” with the IDPs.
However, researcher and political analyst Sajjad Jiyad said that “justice and reconciliation are the biggest challenges for IDPs who want to return to their homes” as well as the “IS-affiliate or captive stigma that hangs over them,” bringing further risks of retribution. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Baghdad’s hasty moves have sparked a reversed displacement towards the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Erbil says 1,300 IDPs have returned to camps in Kurdish areas since the beginning of this year. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
On a related note, Iraqi President Barham Salih ratified on March 8 the ‘Yazidi women survivors’ bill’. The legislation vows support for IS survivors, whether from ethnic or religious minorities.
Sinjar IDPs return
For almost seven years, since the 2014 IS invasion of Sinjar, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis have been living in IDP camps. Given recent developments in Sinjar, any pathway home again seems uncertain.
In mid-February of 2021, rumors of a possible Turkish incursion into the district were swirling after Ankara led a military operation against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants positioned in northern Iraq. Cross-border Turkish assaults are a recurring part of the war between Ankara and the PKK. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
Talk of the incursion prompted the deployment of Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs). The PMUs sent three brigades to the area, reportedly setting up bases on Mount Sinjar and along the border with Syria.
A further hinderance to the Yazidis’ return is the ongoing presence of numerous competing actors “handling security” in Sinjar. These forces include the Iraqi army, Kurdish Peshmerga, PMUs as well as Yazidi self-defense forces such as the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and the Ezidkhan Protection Force (HPÊ), which are linked to the PKK and Peshmerga respectively. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
In 2018, power struggles among some of these groups were on full display when the PMUs in Sinjar clashed with the HPÊ and captured over two dozen members of the Yazidi paramilitary outfit.
Another factor to consider is the stalemate over Baghdad’s rehabilitation of Sinjar and reconstruction of damaged homes. On top of all this, the health risks as well as economic and administrative deadlock brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic have made the plight of the Yazidis bleaker still. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
As for Saleh, she says “she has lost all hope” of returning home to Sinjar. Instead, she has been trying to migrate to Australia with her children for the past two years. “I want my children to be safe. I can’t erase the stigma [of my prior captivity at the hands of IS],” she said. Yazidis remain fearful of return to Sinjar
“وصلت إلى مناصب صنع القرار” .. كيف ساهمت الحرب بتمكين النساء في اليمن