PM Abadi meets Yezidi leader, vows to provide safe return to their homes

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed to pave the way for the safe return of the Yezidis displaced as the result of the ISIS war when he received the spiritual leader of the Yezidi community in Iraq, Baba Shekh, on Sunday.

PM Abadi said that all the components of Iraq fell victim to ISIS persecution including the Yezidis who suffered killing, abduction and displacement at the hands of the extremist group, read a statement from his office.

Baghdad will take quick steps to return the Yezidi people to their homes after the removal of explosives and implementation of the stabilization process in cooperation with the international community, Abadi told the Yezidi leader, adding that they will continue to search for the thousands of Yezidis whose fate remain unknown.

Half of the 6,417 Yezidis abducted by ISIS in August 2014 are still being held captive or their fates remain unknown, according to the latest data released by the KRG’s ministry of religious affairs.

Baba Shekh praised the victories achieved under the command of PM Abadi against ISIS, something that “brought back the hope for the Yezidis to return to their homes,” the Iraqi statement quoted the Yezidi leader as saying.

“The Yezidis feel pride in their belonging to their beloved homeland of Iraq,” Baba Shekh said, according to the Iraqi statement.

The Yezidi town of Shingal and some other areas that were liberated by the Kurdish Peshmerga in late 2015 fell to the Iraqi forces and the mainly Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi in mid-October. The military incursion caused thousands of people who had returned to their homes to flee again to the Kurdistan Region.

Many Yazidis remain displaced in Kurdish camps, while some left to European countries including Germany.

Vian Dakhil, the Yezidi member of the Iraqi parliament, earlier this week slammed the record of the government of Iraq with regards to the plight of the Yezidi people.

“When the catastrophes happened in Shingal, the Iraqi parliament issued several resolutions, one of which designated Shingal a war-ruined zone and thus needs reconstruction. It also named ISIS’ mass killings and kidnappings as genocide. But the Iraqi government does not do anything for them.”

According to Dakhil, Iraq has not allocated "a single dinar in its 2018 budget bill for Shingal.”

In last year’s budget, a portion of funding was dedicated to help Yezidis being rescued from ISIS, but that portion was later abolished by the government through a court decision, Dakhil said.

Baba Shekh, the Yezidi leader, issued a religious guidance that instructed the Yezidi community to embrace with dignity the abducted Yezidi women and girls abused by ISIS.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician, presented an award to Baba Shekh for his role to promote peace and respect the Yezidi women.

While all Iraqi components suffered persecution at the hands of the extremist group, the Iraqi minorities such as the Yezidis received the largest share, Jabouri said at a UN-sponsored event in Baghdad that promoted women rights.