COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Swedish parliamentarians are taking the lead in efforts to spur international action to locate and protect women who have fallen into the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) or been displaced by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. In a country which is home to more than 130,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees, politicians are urging the United Nations to investigate and identify girls and women who have been assaulted or gone missing in the cross-border war. ISIS has kidnapped hundreds of women, including more than 500 Yezidis, as they have captured towns in their offensive across Iraq and Syria. Fredrik Malm, an MP from the Swedish Liberal Party, noted that the besieged Syrian border town of Kobane had been one of the few places in Syria where minorities had sought refuge from the country’s brutal civil war. He argued that in order to stop ISIS assaults on females and minorities, Sweden should provide military support to the Kurds. “This means we must give military support not only to the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, but also to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria,” he told Rudaw. The YPG is considered an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK,) which is labeled a terrorist organization by the European Union. “Neither Turkey nor the international community should punish all of Rojava [part of Syrian Kurdistan] because of the PKK. We must separate the PKK and civilians from each other,” Désirée Pethrus, a Christian Democratic MP, told Rudaw. Pethrus was one of eight Swedish MPs who asked Margot Wahlström, Swedish foreign minister, to press the UN to investigate and identify the missing women in Iraq and Syria. “To prevent the further genocide, rape and abduction of women and girls into sex slavery and the sex industry, the Syrian civil war and ISIS must be stopped. Sweden must take their share of responsibility for this,” the MPs wrote in a letter to the Swedish foreign minister this week. Sweden has contributed around $16 million in humanitarian aid to the international anti-ISIS coalition but is so far not participating in military operations. Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, in August said many of the teenagers who have been kidnapped by ISIS “have been sexually assaulted, and women have been assigned or sold to fighters as ‘malak yamiin’ or slaves.” According to a UN report released last week, the extremist group has abducted girls in Syria as well. Pethrus said many of the kidnap victims are believed to have been trafficked to other Middle Eastern countries. “We must let these Arab governments know that they have to look for the girls and make our intelligence agencies work together,” Pethrus said. Among those lobbying for an investigation into the whereabouts of the victims is Jabar Amin, who played a leading role in the Swedish recognition of the Anfal genocide against Iraqi Kurds. Amin reported on his Facebook page that he tried to cross over the border to Kobane this week but was stopped by the Turkish military. Stefan Loefven, Swedish prime minister, told the Swedish parliament this week that it was time to stand up for civilians in Kobane. “The international community should strengthen its efforts to combat this terrible group. We will do everything in our power to stop IS,” he said. Amineh Kakabaveh, an Iranian Kurd MP and former militia fighter in Iran and Iraq, feared the atrocities against Yezidis in Shingal, a region in Iraqi Kurdistan also known as Sinjar, could be repeated in Kobane. ”Sweden must, through the EU and UN, take action now and give the UN a military mandate to stop ISIS,” Kakabaveh told Rudaw.
