Yazidi genocide immortalized in memorial in Shingal

SHINGAL, Iraq - A memorial commemorating the Yazidi people’s genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) was inaugurated in the community’s heartland Shingal (Sinjar) on Wednesday, with representatives of international bodies and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments reiterating the need to reconstruct the town and ensure the safe return of the ethnoreligious minority group.

Located at the entrance of Shingal from Tal Afar, the memorial project was built by the International Organization for Migration in Iraq (IOM), with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and international NGO Nadia’s initiative.

The entrance wall of the site depicts 73 sun sculptures, the sun being a holy symbol in Yazidism and the number representing the instances of persecution the Yazidi community has endured throughout their history, the knowledge of which has been passed on orally from generation to generation.

At the center of the memorial is a monument consisting of 25 large concrete columns replicating real photos of Yazidis fleeing the militant group’s reign of terror in 2014. The columns overlook the “Grave of Mothers,” the name given to the site where ISIS militants killed and buried more than 90 Yazidi women in a mass grave, including the mother of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad.

“It is a beautiful and moving monument, as strong and resilient as the survivors who designed it, and as enduring as the murdered Yazidis who inspired it,” said Murad in her remarks at the memorial’s inauguration, expressing hope that the tribute provides solace for her community.

Murad decried the lack of accountability for the perpetrators of the genocide and reconstruction of the Yazidi heartland, calling on Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to ensure such heinous crimes are not repeated against the minority group.

“We have repeatedly asked our government to provide a dignified burial for our victims, but they have fallen on deaf ears,” she added.

On August 3, 2014, ISIS militants took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. Thousands fled their homes as the militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. More than 5,000 Yazidis were killed in the genocide.

Shingal was liberated from the group in late 2015, but lack of reconstruction, political disputes, and ongoing insecurity have prevented most families from returning to their homes.

Running along the walkways of the memorial are some 3,000 unmarked headstones honoring the victims of the 2014 Yazidi genocide.

More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS. Women and young girls were sold into sexual slavery, with young boys forced to fight for the terror group. Over 2,000 Yazidis remain missing.

“They are all my family,” Amsha Khalaf, a survivor who lost six family members in the genocide including her mother and brother, told Rudaw English with tears running down her face.

Speeches were also delivered by Iraqi Culture Minister Ahmed al-Badrani, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Ahmed al-Asadi, Nineveh Governor Najim al-Jabouri, The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari, UN's Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq Claudio Cordone, and IOM Chief of Mission in Iraq Giorgi Gigauri.

Gigauri stated that the memorial immortalizes the thousands of Yazidi lives persecuted at the hands of ISIS.

“First and foremost, it is about memory. It is about never forgetting. It is about remembering what happened here,” Gigauri told Rudaw English of the memorial, “secondly it is about healing. It is about trying to get the community to move on, try to process what happened, and to find solace.”

The IOM Iraq chief said that the agency is trying to ensure the safe and voluntary return of all Yazidis and reintegrate them back into society, adding that despite not being involved in the discussions on the 2020 Shingal agreement, the IOM stands ready to assist the movement once the authorities start taking steps towards its implementation.

“What we need to make sure is that this return is safe, we have to make sure this return is voluntary, and we have to make sure that after people return they are able to reintegrate, they return to something,” he added.

The Iraqi and Kurdish officials reiterated their governments’ commitment to holding ISIS militants accountable, while stressing the need to implement the 2020 Shingal agreement as soon as possible to ensure the safe return of Yazidis back to their homeland.

“On this occasion, I call for the quick implementation of the 2020 Shingal agreement, so Shingal can finally benefit from an actual administration, a local police force, and reconstruction projects which the people deserve,” said Cordone.

There is now a myriad of armed forces in Shingal with various allegiances, including the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga, pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic), and groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). They gained footholds in Shingal after ousting ISIS.

Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in 2020 to normalize the situation in Shingal, but the deal has yet to be implemented.

The agreement includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces from the city. Despite both the KRG and the Iraqi government calling on all armed groups to leave Shingal on several occasions, the agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies.

The Iraqi parliament passed the Yazidi Survivors Law in 2021, but it is yet to be fully implemented.

The law formally recognizes acts of genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated by ISIS against the Yazidi, Christian, Turkmen, and Shabak communities by ISIS. It envisages a fixed salary, the provision of land, and allocates two percent of public sector jobs.