Navigator
Facebook
Search
Ads & Recent Photos
Recent Images
Random images
Welcome To Roj Bash Kurdistan 

Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

A place for discussion and exchanging ideas about Kurdistan issues here, also a place for sharing article & views and analysis about Kurdistan .

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:35 pm

Months of Abuse Did Not Silence Nadia Murad - the President's Ignorance Won't Either

    Nadia Murad—one of thousands of Yazidi women and children who face kidnapping, human trafficking, rape and torture as forms of religious prosecution—has been making her voice heard since 2014, when she miraculously escaped after being held captive by ISIS for three months. Murad’s outspoken bravery has reached international attention and won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.
Last week, on International Justice Day, along with over 20 victims of religious persecution, Murad visited the White House. As the famed activist asked the President to intervene in some way to help her community—facing violence and disappearances since 2003—he appeared both unfamiliar with her story and uninterested in learning more.

Link to Full Article:

https://msmagazine.com/2019/07/22/month ... nt-either/
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

Sponsor

Sponsor
 

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:32 pm

Don't abandon the Yazidis

In recent days, five Yazidi women and a 13-year-old Yazidi girl were released from ISIS captivity. However, out of the 6,417 Yazidis that ISIS abducted, 2,992 of them remain missing and are believed to be enslaved across the Middle East.

Further, the Yazidis living in Iraq and Syria today continue to suffer from grave human rights abuses despite pledges made by the international community to never again permit such atrocities. And as US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from Syria draws near, the Yazidis are increasingly in danger, even though the community of nations has a moral obligation to help them recover from the genocide they suffered at the hands of ISIS.

Yazidi leader Sheikh Mirza Ismail, chairman of the Yazidi International Human Rights Organization, reports that "according to our information, there are hundreds of Yazidi slaves being held by their ISIS captors who are now being cared for in camps run by the UN and local governments." He says that he went to the UN and pleaded for their help but so far, no help has arrived: “All Muslim groups have been helped but not the non-Muslim ones, who are the greatest victims and are suffering from genocide.”

According to a local report, one such Yazidi slave was recently able to make contact with her family and tell them: “I just grabbed their phone. I don’t know where I am. I can’t get out.”

Though many in the West argue that the struggle against ISIS is over, this young girl is still being imprisoned by ISIS somewhere in Iraq under the protection of local Muslims. And apparently, the threat from ISIS is still considered significant enough that it recently prompted Iraqi forces to launch a new fresh operation against the group.

Ismail emphasizes that ISIS is still being welcomed in Turkey and other Muslim communities: “We know of at least two refugee camps which welcomed and are supporting ISIS families. One is built to accommodate about 20,000 refugees and since March, the population has swelled to about 80,000 people. The population is mainly consisting of ISIS families. We know of another UN refugee camp in Syria. It used to have a population mainly of Yazidis.”

But now, ISIS has been welcomed into the camp and the Yazidis are trying to flee. They are being abused by local Muslims. This camp is now populated mainly by ISIS families and the few Yazidis who are remaining.

Meanwhile, in Syria, a video documents Arabs setting fire to Yazidi crops. Similar fires targeting Yazidi crops were started in Mount Sinjar and the local forces not only did nothing to stop the massive fires but prevented help from arriving. As a result, the Yazidis were forced to battle the fires themselves and some were burned to death.

An estimated 100,000 dunams (25,000 acres) of Yazidi crops were burned in Mount Sinjar alone. Standing in front of the destroyed fields, a Yazidi spokesman explained that by sitting back and doing nothing, the world has allowed the enslavement and destruction of the Yazidi people and their lands by jihadists who identify with and support ISIS.

“Yazidis have lived in this area since the time of Noah’s Ark,” Ismail said. "This is the oldest place on the planet. Throughout these long centuries, they were always able to protect themselves and to also help their neighbors. But now, after the genocide, there are no soldiers, no protection for the land and often not a crust of bread.”

And when the US withdraws from Syria, Yazidi Rescue Committee Executive Director Geoffrey Clarfield fears that the Turks may enter and this will lead to severe human rights abuses against the Yazidis, as demonstrated by the atrocities committed against Yazidis in the Afrin region.

According to Renanah Gemeiner, the co-founder of Canadian Jews and Friends of Yazidis, a 14-year-old Yazidi boy who was kidnapped by ISIS was smuggled into Turkey together with 11 other Yazidis. She reports that Turkey has become a safe haven for ISIS families seeking to escape justice. Ismail warns that after the withdrawal of US forces, given the threat of a Turkish invasion, “the Yazidis will be even more vulnerable than they are today.”

In the wake of these developments, the United States has a moral obligation to stay in Syria and Iraq until ISIS no longer poses any sort of threat and Turkey abandons its regional ambitions. The US owes this to its allies who sacrificed their lives fighting against the murderous terrorist organization.

Washington is indebted to the region’s minorities, who are waiting for a policy of "never again" to truly be implemented. And this is also a direct US interest; if ISIS regains its foothold in the Middle East, it will soon be targeting Americans closer to home.

In February, a draft Pentagon report warned that without continued pressure, ISIS could regain territory in six to 12 months. According to the report, ISIS still had strength in rural Iraq and maintained a decentralized insurgency in Syria. This remains the case.

How can anyone claim that the war against ISIS is over?

Elie Wiesel once said, “There may be times when we fail to prevent injustice but there never must be a time when we fail to protest.” Americans must protest their government's abandonment of the Yazidis at such a critical hour.

https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/we ... e-yazidis/
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:25 pm

New Yezidi spiritual leader
appointed after six-month delay


Hazim Tahsin Beg has been appointed as the new spiritual leader (Mir) of the Yezidi ethnoreligious minority on Wednesday, almost six months after the death of his father and predecessor Mir Tahsin Saeed Beg

"Today the family of the Mir agreed for Hazim Tahsin Beg to become the Mir of Yezidi Kurds," Ismat Tahsin Beg, another of the late leader's sons told Rudaw. "It is decided that Mir Tahsin will officially be named as the Mir of Yezidis at Lalish temple in a religious ceremony next Saturday," he added.

Hazim is the eldest son of Mir Tahsin Saeed Beg. Acting as his father's deputy for several years while his health deteriorated, media reports at the time of the late leader's death reported that Hazim had been named as his successor.

Six other candidates had come forward to become the new Mir since January, but withdrew from contention to allow Hazim Tahsin Beg to assume the role, Ismat Tahsin Beg said.

The six-month delay in the announcement of Tahsin Saeed Beg's successor was a subject of speculation, including "illegitimate" claims to the authority of Mir and disagreements within the late Mir's family.

The figurehead status of a Mir in the Yezidi community allows them to exercise advocacy for the embattled community, including courting international assistance.

Notable Yezidi figures mourned the death of the last Mir as a figure who provided strength and unity during the genocide exacted by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. Having presided over the community through several turbulent decades, Mir Tahsin died in a hospital in Hanover, Germany on January 28, 2019, aged 85, after being hospitalized for an illness.

Long an outspoken figure, Mir Tahsin joined the Kurdish Aylul (September) Revolution against the Iraqi government in 1970. He fled to Iran, where he became the target of an attack. He migrated to the UK in 1975 and returned to Iraq in 1981, surviving two attempts on his life in 1992 and 2003.

From exile in Germany, he called for international military assistance in defense of his people. He also broke with religious custom and ruled that women raped by ISIS fighters must not be excluded from the faith.

While Yezidis are no longer under the grip of Islamic State (ISIS) rule, Yezidis continue to face hurdles in their rehabilitation and the reconstruction of their homes, for which they have sought both national and international assistance. Many remain displaced from their homeland in Shingal and its surrounding areas, while thousands continue to reel from the effects of years of sexual and physical violence.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/240720191
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:19 pm

Blueprint To Help Religious
Communities In Iraq


Several survivors of persecution based on religion or belief addressed the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom on July 16-17, 2019

The event, hosted by Secretary of State Pompeo, provided a forum for victims to share their stories. Among them was a survivor of Daesh genocide and a tireless advocate for the Yazidi community, Nadia Murad.

Nadia Murad, who lost nine members of her family to the Daesh massacres, warned that we should not be fooled by stories that Daesh is largely defeated. The suffering of the communities targeted by Daesh is far from over. As Nadia explained, the consequences of the Daesh atrocities will be felt for generations:

“My community and other religious minorities continue to feel the lasting effects of genocide. History and research have taught us time and time again that genocide is an ongoing process. Nearly 350,000 Yazidis are still stranded in IDP camps in Kurdistan. Over 3,000 Yazidi women and children remain missing.”

We know of the crimes committed by Daesh fighters towards communities in Syria and Iraq all too well. However, knowing what happened does not necessarily spark action to address the issues. Nadia emphasized that “while there is some support and empathy, there are no real efforts focused on the most important objective that would end the genocide and allow the Yazidis to heal – enabling my community to return to our ancestral homeland of Shingal and rebuild our lives in a safe, healthy environment.”

Nadia came prepared with a five-point action plan to address the challenges faced by her community in Iraq.

    First, Nadia stressed the need to resolve the conflict over local governance in Shingal. “Disputes between Baghdad and Erbil over Shingal must end. Without a solution between them, Yazidis will continue to be the victims of their conflict.” Nadia repeated this concern when she met with President Trump.

    Second, Nadia emphasized the need to focus on ensuring “long-term regional stability by investing in reconstruction and sustainable development initiatives.” She points out that funds are required to rebuild housing and basic infrastructure in the region. “Without international funding targeted to development in Shingal, stability cannot be achieved.”

    Third, Nadia pointed out that Baghdad and Erbil must better integrate religious minorities into their Security Forces. “These efforts will enable religious minorities to have a hand in their own security and also prevent future genocidal efforts.” This is critical when considering how Yazidis were left alone unprotected before Daesh attacked.

    Fourth, and it could not be stressed enough, justice must be served. Nadia stated that “the Yazidi community deserves justice for the atrocities they have endured … [the] genocide against Yazidis and other minorities.”

    Indeed, the lack of justice sends the wrong message that one can get away with genocide. If we have learned anything from similar atrocities it is that we cannot allow the atmosphere of impunity to flourish.

    Fifth, by failing to assist the communities targeted for annihilation, we are complicit in the ultimate goal of Daesh; the eradication of these minorities from the region.
As Nadia said: “It is imperative that we urge the world to protect religious minorities globally.

Next month will mark the 5th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide. If the international community does not act swiftly, my community will disappear from their homeland.” Humanity will be eroded for allowing the eradication of minorities in the Middle East to take place.

Now that the requirements of communities in Iraq are clear, it is crucial to provide them with the assistance they request to ensure that they do not face the very fate that Daesh intended for them. The question is whether the international community will stand with the survivors of yet another genocide that we failed to prevent.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaoch ... 6998d16ead
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:33 pm

New Yazidi leader to fight for persecuted minority

The nomination of the new Yazidi leader, Prince Hazeem Tahseen Bek, will fill the void left behind by his father who campaigned for the rights of Yazidis persecuted by ISIS, but has also divided the community, officials told The National.

The new leader, a 56-year-old former deputy in the parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, will lead the Yazidi community while cooperating both with Kurdish authorities and the federal government in Baghdad.

His father, Prince Tahseen Said Ali, died in Germany in January following a long illness and almost 75 years as head of the community.

For centuries, the ethno-religious group, which emerged from Iran 4,000 years ago, lived in relative obscurity in an arid corner of northwest Iraq around the Sinjar mountain.

ISIS attacked the community when they overran Sinjar in 2014. The closed faith has no written book and reveres a peacock angel. ISIS regarded them as apostates.

Thousands of Yazidis were killed and young women were enslaved to serve as concubines for fighters. The UN described the onslaught as genocide.

The death of Prince Tahseen came at a time where the Yazidi community is still reeling from this genocide, Faris Keti, who was an adviser to the late leader, told The National.

“They are scattered as refugees in many countries and are internally displaced in the Kurdish camps, in addition to the 3,000 Yazidi men, women and children who are still in captivity and the destruction of 80 per cent of Sinjar’s infrastructure,” Mr Keti said.

Prince Hazeem is a capable leader, Baroness Emma Nicholson, who chairs the AMAR International Charitable Association, which has provided health, and education support to the Yazidis, told The National.

“These poor people need a strong leader to unite them and advocate for them on the world stage, and Prince Hazem is such a man,” she said.

The new leader will “battle for the Yazidis like his father before him,” said Baroness Nicholson.

Prince Hazem is heavily involved in the AMAR Foundation, she said.

“Like us, he believes it is vital for all other faiths to recognise the Yazidi religion, to prevent there being any more genocidal attacks,” she said.

It took six months for members of the High Spiritual Council to announce their decision to choose Prince Hazeem from seven other candidates, Mr Keti said.

"This agreement divided the Yazidi community between those who accepted the decision and those who protested against it," he said.

The disagreements were about the “way the Prince’s name was chosen” Mr Keti said, adding that disputes between tribal leaders also emerged over the terms and conditions that Prince Hazeem needed to agree on before being formally apppointed.

Of the world's nearly 1.5 million Yazidis, 550,000 lived in Iraq before 2014. Since then, about 100,000 have emigrated and 360,000 remain internally displaced.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/n ... y-1.892363
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:06 pm

3 August is the fifth anniversary of
the ISIS attacks against the Yazidis


Five years have passed since the ISIS, the striking force of the male-dominated system, attempted to carry out a genocide in Shengal. We respectfully remember those who lost their lives in these attacks

On 3 August 2014 thousands of women, children and men had been murdered, kidnapped, wounded by ISIS mercenaries, in one of the worst attacks on people.

The abducted women and girls were reduced to sexual slaves and said: “We still have no news about some of these women and children. For the past five years the families of those still trying to find their children have been trying to heal their bleeding wounds."

The genocide was carried out in front of the world's eyes and that most sovereign states stood in silence.

On 3 August at 11 o'clock the world will stand for a minute's silence to remember the victims of the ISIS genocide in Shengal.
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:26 am

Plight of the Yazidi community

Saturday 3 August marks the fifth anniversary of the attempt by Isis to annihilate the Yazidi community in Iraq. Over a few short days thousands of men were brutally slaughtered, over 7,000 Yazidi women and girls as young as nine years were abducted into sexual slavery, hundreds of thousands had to flee for their lives, and thousands became trapped while seeking shelter in searing August heat on Mount Sinjar

The outrage was a defining moment in galvanising the world’s response to Isis. The Yazidi community, most publicly represented by 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, were subjected to “the crime of genocide”, according to a 2017 United Nations Commission of Inquiry.

While Isis has been militarily defeated, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis have had no option but to remain in camps across Kurdistan for the last five years, unable to return home. This is due to the ongoing insecurity and systematic mining of their home areas together with the complete destruction by Isis of all infrastructure.

It is appropriate on the fifth anniversary that the world recalls and fully acknowledges this atrocity. Continued action must be taken by the United Nations and the international community to assist women and children who suffered unspeakable abuses, to enable Yazidi families to return to and reconstruct their towns, villages and farms, and to bring the perpetrators of these atrocities to justice.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett ... -1.3970894
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:01 pm

Shiite opposition leader calls on Yezidis
to protect their land not go abroad


A prominent Shia politician is calling on Yezidis to stay in their country and not go abroad

At the third Yezidi Massacre Congress in Baghdad Thursday, Hikma Front leader Ammar al-Hakim said that Yezidis should stay in Iraq despite their continued displacement after the Islamic State (ISIS) genocide against them in 2014.

"The best response by the Yezidis to Daesh is that they should cling on to their homeland and soil and have love for their country and defend their civilization," said Hakim. "Migration to other countries...is not a solution because a generation will emerge in other countries who do not wish to return to their areas."

August 3 marks the fifth anniversary of the brutal raid of the predominanely Yezidi city of Shingal by ISIS. The attack saw many in the community massacred, kidnapped or forced to leave their homes.

Shingal was liberated from ISIS in 2015. Some Yezidis have since returned to the city, but political disputes, poor living conditions and security concerns contribute to thousands of them still staying in displaced persons camps in the Kurdistan Region. Shingal is claimed by both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, with the latter controlling it since 2017.

"In this case, we will lose an indigenous component of our country," said Hakim of Yezidi emigration.

Hakim called on the Yezidis to be "resilient" because if they abandon their areas, they will fulfill the goals ISIS was working towards, according to him.

"Abandoning our land and migration to other countries is the implementation of Daesh's project and subjugation to Daesh's oppression and the plot of extremists and terrorists," Hakim said.

Hakim also said Iraq needs to help defeat the issues that led to ISIS' rise.

"If we do not resolve the issues which contributed to the rise of ISIS in the first place, a more extremist group than ISIS might emerge in our country," he said, mentioning public services in liberated areas, for example.

An estimated 360,000 Yezidis live in camps and other places in the Kurdistan Region out of 550,000 Yezidis in total, according to statistics from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s Yezidi Rescue Office. 40,000 live in Shingal, according to the office.

ISIS took an estimated 6,417 women and girls from the Yezidi community when they attacked Shingal in 2014. Now, 3,509 have been freed. The fate of the remaining 2,908 remains unclear, despite ISIS' loss of its territory in Iraq and Syria, according to the Yezidi Rescue Office.

The Kurdistan Region Parliament is scheduled to convene a special session today to vote on making August 3 a day of rememberance of the Yezidi genocide.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/01082019
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:18 pm

Remember Shengal 11 am 3 August

The biggest attack carried out by ISIS in the Middle East was on the Yazidis in Shengal

August 3 marks the anniversary of the Yazidi (Êzidî) massacre committed by ISIS in 2014 when the terrorist organization attacked Shengal, historical homeland of the Kurdish Yazidi community.

Thousands of Yazidis were either killed, kidnapped or reduced to slavery. Prisoners were then taken to Mosul, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Tal Afar, Manbij, Girê Spi.

The Federation of Yazidi Women’s Assemblies in Germany, which declared August 3 “Global Day of Action Against Femicide”, has called on all women of the world to take to the streets on the anniversary of the Shengal genocide.

On this occasion numerous actions and events are organised across Germany under the lead of the Federation of Yazidi Women’s Assemblies.

The actions will begin with a minute of silence all around the world, at 11 am on August 3, in memory of all the women abducted or murdered by ISIS terrorists in Shengal.

The kidnapped girls and women of the Yazidi community were subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatment including being sold on slave markets and suffering systematic rape by the jihadist terrorists.

The actions will highlight the tragedy suffered by Yazidi women and call for an end to femicide.

Action timetable on 3 August:

    Hamburg: 10.30 clock, Mönckebergstraße before Karstadt

    Hannover: 13.30 clock, Central Station

    Bielefeld: 10.30 clock, Town Hall

    Wesel: 10.30 clock, Berliner Tor Square

    Bremen: 10.00 am, at Marktplatz

    Wilhelmshaven: 10.30 clock, Catholic Church of St. Mary

    Celle: 10.30 am, Big Plan

    Nuremberg: 11.00 clock, Hall Square

    Walsrode: 10.00 am, Rathaus, Lange Str. 22

    4th of August

    Sulingen, 12.30 pm, Nienburger Straße 23


PLEASE add any other protests taking place
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:38 pm

An excellent YouTube video about Yazidis:

phpBB [video]


Direct link if video not working:

https://youtu.be/NSwrqVd1zuQ
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Aug 02, 2019 2:20 am

Click image to enlarge:

1197

Starting on 3 August with the attack on Yazidi villages

During the last 5 years these gentle people have undergone a series of horrors

The slaughter of thousands of Yazidis

The kidnap of thousands of women and children

The years of torture as sex slaves the ladies have endured

The ongoing torture of the 3,000 plus Yazidis still in captivity

The uncertainty of not knowing what happened to missing friends and relations

The various non-Yazidi groups trying to manipulate these gentle people

The Yazidis forced to endure the horrors of violence in refugee camps

The leaking tents

Sometimes tents being burnt

The violence

Yazidi fields being destroyed

The lack of medical

The lack of healthy food

The lack of general supplies

The lack of education for the children

Having to share some camps with ISIS murderers

The knowledge money is being raised but most never reaches the Yazidis

The constant fear of further attacks
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Aug 02, 2019 5:58 pm

5 years on Yazidis still live with
ISIS massacre and enslavement


Five years after their lives were torn apart by Islamic State militants, the Yazidis of Iraq are still unable to return home or locate thousands of their women and children kidnapped and enslaved by the extremists

While the militants have since been defeated, Iraqi politicians continue to bicker over who is to administer the Yazidi hometowns, which lie in ruins and remain under threat of renewed attacks.

Yazidi community leaders and Iraqi politicians met Thursday in Baghdad to commemorate the fifth anniversary of ISIS rampaging through the Sinjar region in northern Iraq in Aug 2014.

The militants destroyed villages, and religious sites, lined men up and shot them before kidnapping thousands of women and children and trading them in modern day chattel slavery.

The United Nations called the attacks genocide

    "This is not a memory. We are still living this genocide until today, in all its details," said Yazidi lawmaker Saib Khider. "Our wounds are still open."
ISIS militants had transported Yazidi women and children into Syria and destroyed Yazidi sites. During the final battle to drive ISIS out of the last territory it controlled, in a small corner in Syria last March, dozens of Yazidis emerged among the survivors in that ISIS enclave.

After the militants were chased out of Yazidi areas in 2015, little has been done to heal the wounds or secure the minority group against a possible resurgence.

Thousands remain missing and dozens of mass graves, over 70 so far, have not yet been exhumed. Many children who were raised under ISIS and indoctrinated in jihadi ideology are believed to be still living in camps in Syria.

More than 400,000 Yazidis are living in displacement while control and administration of the Sinjar region remains disputed between Iraqi politicians.

Only days before the conference, two Yazidi men were kidnapped and killed by suspected ISIS militants in northeastern Sinjar — a traumatic reminder that the militants can still threaten them.

ISIS sleeper cells have continued to carry out attacks in different parts of Iraq, and the Iraqi military and security agencies recently launched operations to weed out the remaining militants.

The war against ISIS has displaced much of Iraq's population, and only some of them have returned to their homes. But Sinjar, in Iraq's northwestern Nineveh province and near the border with Syria, remains largely empty.

"How long can this go on?" survivor Hala Safil, enslaved for three years by ISIS, told The Associated Press, lamenting lack of progress on any of the issues that continue to agonize the Yazidis.

She called for the formation of a committee to search for missing Yazidis and appealed on the Iraqi parliament to pass a law that offers compensation and rehabilitation for the survivors. She urged politicians to direct money to the destroyed villages so that people can go home and resume their lives.

"The Yazidi woman has seen a lot: beating, rape, insult, killing, everything. And yet, she is still living in a camp," Safil said. "They think the woman in the camp is free. No. This is moving from one prison to another."

Safil said while the defeat of IS was no small feat, justice is missing. She called for holding the perpetrators accountable for crimes of genocide, enslavement and other crimes against humanity— not just speedy trials on charges of belonging to a terror group.

"Not a single family has been safe from this genocide," Safil told the gathering. Every moment she spent in enslavement "were equal to a thousand deaths."

The U.S.-based Yazda group, which organized the conference, said ISIS destroyed at least 68 Yazidi religious and heritage sites, calling it another war crime and crime against humanity.

Speaking at the conference, Shiite politician Ammar al-Hakim said eliminating ISIS is not only a security operation but requires addressing reconstruction, social issues and service provision. Ignoring those "could provide the psychological environment for the return of extremism and terrorism," he said.

The extremist group considered the Kurdish-speaking religious minority to be heretics.

Apparently addressing some in the Muslim community who also view Yazidis as apostates, Al-Hakim said the Yazidis are monotheists and targeting them is like targeting all Iraqis.

Al-Hakim also called on Yazidis to have patience and remain home instead of seeking refuge abroad

"The best Yazidi response to Daesh terrorism is to stick to their land," he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. "We should be patient and stick together until we get over this crisis... Iraq is our home, all of us."

https://news.yahoo.com/5-years-yazidis- ... NlYwNzcg--
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Aug 02, 2019 11:50 pm

Facts on Islamic State's Yazidi Killings
Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Aug. 3, 2014 attack on Mount Sinjar, the Yazidi heartland, shocked the international community and prompted the United States to carry out air strikes against Islamic State

Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of Islamic State's assault on Iraq's Yazidi minority, described by the United Nations as a genocide, in which thousands were killed or abducted.

The Aug. 3, 2014 attack on Mount Sinjar, the Yazidi heartland, shocked the international community and prompted the United States to carry out air strikes against Islamic State and airdrop relief to thousands trapped on the desert mountaintop.

Here are 10 facts about the Yazidi people:

    1. Islamic State killed about 3,000 Yazidis - with more than half shot, beheaded and burned alive - and kidnapped about 7,000 women and children to become sex slaves or fighters in its 2014 siege.

    2. According to community leaders, more than 3,000 Yazidis remain unaccounted for.

    3. The estimated 550,000-strong Yazidi community are members of a Kurdish religious minority who have lived primarily in Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

    4. The sect's beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions.

    5. Islamic State considers the Yazidi devil worshippers and has ordered them to convert or die.

    6. Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

    7. International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is working with Murad to prosecute Islamic State militants for crimes against humanity, including sexual abuse and enslavement of Yazidi women.

    8. Islamic State militants have been driven out of the Yazidis' Sinjar heartland in northern Iraq, but many still live in camps, too afraid to return to their homes, charities say.

    9. The persecution has forced thousands of Yazidis to seek asylum in Europe, with an estimated 60,000 in Germany.

    10. Yazidi supporters have complained over delays in a United Nations probe, which last August began collecting evidence of acts by Islamic State in Iraq that may be war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
Sources: United Nations, Reuters, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Yazda

(Writing by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Katy Migiro. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking and slavery, property rights, social innovation, resilience and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)

http://news.trust.org//item/20190801223840-iuv79/
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:52 am

Five years after the genocide, Yazidis share their forgotten stories and demand justice

Five years after Islamic State (ISIS) militants launched a genocide against the Yazidi community in Sinjar, northern Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis are still displaced and living in harsh conditions

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) calls on the international community to guarantee the security of the Yazidi people, and to provide support for reconstruction, inclusion, and sustainability in Sinjar. Local authorities are urged to implement dignified medium-term solutions for those with no immediate prospect of voluntary return.

The ISIS attacks that began on 3 August 2014 resulted in thousands being killed: the United Nations estimates that 5,000 Yazidi men died in the massacre. Yazidi men who refused to convert to Islam were executed and dumped in mass graves; many boys were forced to become child soldiers.

An estimated 7,000 Yazidi women and girls, some as young as nine, were enslaved and forcibly transferred to locations in Iraq and eastern Syria. Held in sexual slavery, survivors reported being repeatedly sold, gifted, or passed around among ISIS fighters.

These atrocities were recognised as genocide by the United Nations in 2016. So many Yazidis went missing that the enslavement of women did not immediately come to international attention. More than 3,000 women are missing to this day.

Kurdish and Yazidi fighters regained control of Sinjar in November 2015, but the security situation remains unstable. Landmines and booby traps litter the area, hindering the already difficult task of reconstruction.

There is no reliable water or electricity supply; outside major towns, there are no schools and no hospitals. Work opportunities are minimal. Only a quarter of the original Yazidi inhabitants of Sinjar have tried to return to their ruined villages. Some seventy mass graves are still open and unprotected.

300,000 Yazidis currently live in displacement camps or informal settlements scattered across Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, particularly in Duhok governorate. They are exposed to extreme weather conditions, and the challenges of inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure continue to persist.

The poor living conditions, lack of stability in the region, and a constant sense of fear and insecurity are making physical and emotional recovery more difficult for the genocide survivors. Waning prospects for a way out have led to a sharp increase in suicides, PTSD, behaviour disorders, and acute depression. There is a high incidence of suicidal ideation among Yazidis in the 15-25 age group. Young people are losing hope for their future.

“Where are our men, woman, children, and girls? We know that they are still in the camps in Syria, but they are too scared to say they are Yazidis,” says Layla, who endured two years in captivity in Raqqa, Syria, before her brother was able to ransom her from ISIS. “My family is still missing. Life is very difficult, and our houses are bombed out. We want to trust again, and we want protection.”

Most Yazidis feel that they have been forgotten. To mark the fifth anniversary of the genocide, JRS is sharing the stories of the survivors so that their voices may be heard. In the #DoNotForgetUs campaign, we hear of what was done to the Yazidi people through the stories of Layla, Najah, Bahar, and others, and we learn of their fears and hopes for the future.

JRS has been serving displaced Yazidis in northern Iraq since October 2014. JRS staff make home visits and provide material assistance to the most vulnerable families. JRS also runs learning centres that provide structured educational programmes for children and young people, as well as adult education and skills training. JRS has made extensive efforts to provide professional mental health and psychosocial support to survivors of the genocide so they can rediscover hope.

We ask the world to join us in standing with the Yazidi people. Do not forget them.

https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/five- ... nd-justice
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

Re: Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

PostAuthor: Anthea » Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:56 am

Mental anguish remains untreated
for many Yazidi women


It is not enough to expect those who have experienced sexual enslavement to simply plaster over their physical wounds and to carry on

Lamiya Haji Basharis a Yazidi human rights activist, and a Goodwill Ambassador for the Aurora Forum, an inaugural programme of events that will bring together the world’s leading minds to tackle pressing humanitarian issues, in October, Yerevan, Armenia.

As the last remnants of ISIS are being driven out of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, those fortunate enough to have survived the past several years of conflict are beginning to rebuild their lives and communities.

Whilst much of the world’s attention has focused on the geo-political impact of the ISIS caliphate, and the destruction of infrastructure across these regions, what remains overlooked is the rehabilitation of those who were forced to live under this unimaginably brutal regime.

My people, the Yazidis, were prime targets for ISIS due to our ethnicity, religious beliefs and vulnerability as a minority in the Middle East. As has been formally recognised by the United Nations[i], we were victims of a targeted genocide, with thousands of Yazidis massacred. Many of those that weren’t killed, were forcibly exiled.

Having murdered many of our husbands, brothers and sons, ISIS began employing sexual violence against Yazidi women – using rape and enslavement as one of their main weapons against us.

Along with an estimated 7,000 other Yazidi women and children[ii], I was abducted and enslaved. Many of us spent months being sold as property from fighter to fighter, becoming victims of horrific sexual violence on a daily basis.

Unlike so many others, I was eventually able to escape. For those of us who were able to survive enslavement, we are now left to pick up the pieces of our lives, and to try and move forward as best as we can. Whilst our physical scars are there for the world to see, what isn’t as apparent is the psychological and emotional suffering that many of us are left to confront.

Many also struggle with the social stigma that remains attached to their ordeal, meaning they struggle to reintegrate with their communities and even at times, their own families. Asides from the mental anguish, these women can lose their closest relationships and support networks.

A study found that more than 80% of Yazidi sexual enslavement survivors met the criteria for PTSD diagnosis[iii], and that many had experience social rejection from their communities upon returning. In many regions of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, families are extremely conservative and their remains a disturbing stigma around victims of rape.

The same report also highlighted that mental health support for female survivors of the ISIS conflict was urgently needed to prevent life-long suffering[iv].

Prior to the conflict, many of us had ambitions to be mothers, students, workers – to build healthy and prosperous lives for our families. In my home village of Kojo, near Sinjar in Iraq, we have seen our schools, hospitals and businesses be destroyed. For those of us that survived, there is little to return to.

Our suffering didn’t end once we were freed from slavery, and we now lack the infrastructure and resources to help rehabilitate and return to some semblance of happiness and normality.

To truly rebuild our communities, much investment and funding is needed to provide rehabilitation offerings for survivors – formal counselling that can help us to overcome the emotional trauma we have experienced.

Genuinely impactful psychological treatment for these survivors is expensive – and therefore out of reach for an average Yazidi woman. One of the few rehabilitation schemes available for Yazidi women, ran from Germany[v], costs almost €90 million[vi] per year.

This is a level of investment that isn’t realistic for our communities, and most survivors are unable to travel to Europe to access such schemes. We are in desperate need of support from the international community to develop similar schemes and treatments on-the-ground in Yazidi communities.

We must call on the international community – both governments and NGOs – to prioritise more aid money for mental health support and psychological treatment of Yazidi women. Whilst much great work is being done by government’s through aid, and NGOs through on-the-ground support – greater coordination between both regarding mental health and rehabilitation could be invaluable.

To rebuild our communities effectively, it is essential that Yazidi women not only survive, but prosper. It is not enough to expect those who have experienced sexual enslavement to simply plaster over their physical wounds and to carry on.

The world is slowly coming to terms with our story, and we need its support if we are to ever move forward.

[i] https://news.un.org/en/audio/2016/06/614292

[ii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... rning-home

[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6136186/

[iv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6136186/

[v] https://www.newstatesman.com/world/midd ... s-who-have

[vi] https://www.newstatesman.com/world/midd ... s-who-have

http://news.trust.org//item/20190801130838-lp49o/
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
User avatar
Anthea
Shaswar
Shaswar
Donator
Donator
 
Posts: 28368
Images: 1155
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Highscores: 3
Arcade winning challenges: 6
Has thanked: 6019 times
Been thanked: 729 times
Nationality: Kurd by heart

PreviousNext

Return to Kurdistan Debates, Articles and Analysis

Who is online

Registered users: Bing [Bot]

x

#{title}

#{text}