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Iraq
Yezidi women sit outside the Temple of Lalish on April 16, 2019, during a ceremony marking the Yezidi New Year. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Out of 6,417 Yezidis kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, 2,880 remain missing, according to new data from the office responsible for rescuing abducted Yezidis, overseen by the Kurdistan Region presidency.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yezidis, 6,417 Yezidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked Shingal in the summer of 2014, including 3,548 females and 2,869 males.
“Of this, 3,537 - 1,201 women, 339 men, 1,043 young girls and 954 young boys have been rescued,” it read.
The 2,880 missing includes 1,304 females and 1,576 males.
The same data puts the number of those killed in the first day of the ISIS attack at 1,293, adding that the attack has internally displaced some 310,000 Yezidis and forced more than 100,000 to flee Iraq. Additionally, 2,745 children have been orphaned.
The ethnoreligious minority lived mainly in the district of Shingal in Nineveh before it was attacked by ISIS on August 3, 2014, in what has been recognised by many states as a genocide. Many Yezidi men and elderly people were killed, and young women and girls sold into sexual slavery.
The plight of the Yezidis was brought to renewed attention in 2018 when survivor Nadia Murad was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
“These statistics are approved by the United Nations and do not include material losses in property, land, livestock, agricultural, cars, factories… etc,” read the statement.
Shingal currently lacks security due to the presence of several armed groups, hindering the return of its people who mostly live in camps or houses in Duhok province. Much of it still lies in ruins, five years after liberation.
Nineveh Governor Najm al-Jabouri told Iraqi state media outlet INA on Wednesday that thousands of Yezidis have returned to Shingal so far, but “a large number” still live in Duhok province.
He added that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and military officials have agreed in the last few days “to facilitate the return of displaced Yezidis.”
“They agreed on some points, including specifying a limited budget for those families who return and to provide services.”
Yazda, a Yezidi organisation, said late Wednesday that the Iraqi government has opened a Shingal office for the return of those affected by the ISIS attack.
“We value the efforts of the government for stabilizing Sinjar (Shingal), and we hope that the government will accelerate the process of returning IDPs to their homes, and compensate the survivors and victims of the genocide,” said the organisation.
French President Emmanuel Macron said during his joint press conference with Kadhimi in Baghdad on Wednesday that “we will do our best to help you especially in Shingal, helping the Yezidis."
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