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Kurdistan
Children commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Yezidi genocide at a ceremony at the holy site of Lalish on August 2, 2019. Photo: Yezidi Supreme Spiritual Council
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region parliament has officially recognized August 3 as Yezidi Genocide Remembrance Day in a Saturday session, in commemoration of the five year anniversary of the massacre in the Yezidi heartland of Shingal. The occasion is being used across the political spectrum to repeat calls for assistance in the stabilization and reconstruction of the province, from which hundreds of thousands of Yezidis are still displaced.
MPs attending a Saturday parliamentary session passed a resolution to “designate August 3 as Yezidi Genocide Remembrance Day” and called for reparations to survivors and the families of victims “under the provision of the Iraqi constitution,” according to the Kurdistan Parliament website.
It was the beginning of an organised campaign of violence on the Yezidis, an ethnoreligious minority viewed by ISIS as devil-worshippers. The group committed executions, enslavement, sexual violence, the recruitment of child soldiers, and forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands from the Yezidi heartland in and around Shingal.
MPs attending a Saturday parliamentary session passed a resolution to “designate August 3 as Yezidi Genocide Remembrance Day” and called for reparations to survivors and the families of victims “under the provision of the Iraqi constitution,” according to the Kurdistan Parliament website.
On August 3, 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) militias swept through vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, taking the Yezidi town of Shingal, abducting the town’s men and boys, executing them en masse, and burying them in mass graves.
It was the beginning of an organised campaign of violence on the Yezidis, an ethnoreligious minority viewed by ISIS as devil-worshippers. The group committed executions, enslavement, sexual violence, the recruitment of child soldiers, and forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands from the Yezidi heartland in and around Shingal.
Women and children were subject to kidnap, sex slavery and forced conversion to Islam. Of the 6,417 Yezidis believed to have been abducted, 2,992 remain missing.
Current Kurdistan Region president Nechirvan Barzani condemned the genocide, asking the United Nations (UN) to “recognize this genocide to prevent similar acts.”
On 5th anniversary of genocide against Yezidis in Shingal, we solemnly remember those who fell victim to ISIS atrocities in Kurdistan & beyond. We won’t rest until we eradicate terror & bring kidnapped victims home. We urge UN to recognize this genocide to prevent similar acts.
— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) August 2, 2019
During his tenure as prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani established a Yezidi affairs office in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowment in the late 2014, aiming to reunite Yezidis held captive by ISIS with their families.
‘We solemnly remember those who fell victim to ISIS atrocities in Kurdistan & beyond,” he said.
In a statement released on Saturday, former President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani demanded “the international community recognize the genocide that happened against the people of Shingal by the hands of ISIS terrorists.”
“I also ask both Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi federal government to reach an agreement regarding the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Shingal, and the handover the local administration of Shingal to its people,” he added.
Commemoration of the genocide’s fifth anniversary within the Yezidi community itself took place in a Friday ceremony at Lalish, where the newly appointed spiritual leader of the Yezidi community, Mir Hazim Tahsin Beg, demanded more assistance from central government in Baghdad.
Receiving UN Special Envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis on the same day, he urged international assistance to temper tensions in Shingal to allow Yezidis to return home, as well as assistance in the restoration of economic stability to the area, according to a statement released by the Yezidi Supreme Spiritual Council on Saturday.
Some 360,000 of the 400, 000 Yezidis displaced by ISIS still remain in camps for the internally displaced in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, reluctant to return home for fear of their safety and deterred by the lack of opportunity in Shingal.
Shingal’s status as a disputed territory, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil, created a security vacuum after the defeat of ISIS. The area is currently under the control of several militias, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-linked Shingal Protection Units (YBS), the Iraqi Army, Provincial Police, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga linked forces, the Ezidkhan, and Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias.
In recognition of the precarious conditions still faced by Yezidis five years on KRG deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani took to Twitter on Saturday to express solidarity.
“Despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq, the Yezidi community is still struggling [...] we will continue support and assist our Yezidi siblings,” he said.
In the five years since the genocide, prominent Yezidi figures have been calling for increased Yezidi political representation, and for the plight of Yezidis to be treated with greater urgency.
Survivor of the genocide and Nobel laureate Nadia Murad called on the international community to assist the Yezidi return to Shingal in an op-ed for The Washington Post on July 31, and warned that an “ISIS genocidal campaign against Yezidis may prevail” if dispute over control of the area continues.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group of parties close to and including the PKK, released a statement on Friday asking both the KRG and Iraqi government to make Shingal a self-administered town, protected by all Kurdish factions. It also demanded the international recognition of the Yezidi genocide.
President of Iraq added to the commemorative message with a statement later on Saturday, calling assistance a "humanitarian duty" for "Iraq, neighboring countries and all international organisations."
“We are proud and grateful to all the sacrifices that the Yezidi community has given in the fight against ISIS,” he added.
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