Dutch parliament adopts aid plan for Yazidis in Kurdistan Region
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Netherlands’ parliament on Thursday adopted a motion calling on the Dutch government to prepare an action plan to aid the Yazidi community living in the Kurdistan Region, who are still reeling from the impact of the Islamic State (ISIS) genocide nearly nine years later.
Submitted by Labour Party MP Kati Piri, the motion addresses the continued impact of the ISIS atrocities and the harsh living conditions of the Yazidi community, many of whom remain scattered across IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region and are unable to return to their homeland of Shingal due to persistent security risks and lack of infrastructure.
The motion calls on the cabinet to “draw up an action plan for aid to the Yazidi community in northern Iraq, consisting of concrete improvement of living conditions, better housing in the camps, education, trauma therapy for victims of sexual violence.”
It also calls for helping pass testimonials that might lead to the successful conviction of ISIS militants.
Netherlands is one of the countries that has recognized ISIS’ crimes against the Yazidi community as a genocide and a crime against humanity. The new motion for an action plan comes exactly two years after the Dutch parliament unanimously passed a motion to recognize the genocide.
ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Minority groups especially suffered under the terror group's rule, including Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians.
The Shingal area remains unstable due to insecurity and lack of basic services. Around 200,000 Yazidis who fled Shingal in 2014 still live in the Kurdistan Region, many of whom linger in IDP camps and live well below the poverty line, unable to return home.
Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in 2020 to return security to Shingal, but it has yet to be fully implemented.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. Over 2,000 remain missing.
Submitted by Labour Party MP Kati Piri, the motion addresses the continued impact of the ISIS atrocities and the harsh living conditions of the Yazidi community, many of whom remain scattered across IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region and are unable to return to their homeland of Shingal due to persistent security risks and lack of infrastructure.
The motion calls on the cabinet to “draw up an action plan for aid to the Yazidi community in northern Iraq, consisting of concrete improvement of living conditions, better housing in the camps, education, trauma therapy for victims of sexual violence.”
It also calls for helping pass testimonials that might lead to the successful conviction of ISIS militants.
Netherlands is one of the countries that has recognized ISIS’ crimes against the Yazidi community as a genocide and a crime against humanity. The new motion for an action plan comes exactly two years after the Dutch parliament unanimously passed a motion to recognize the genocide.
ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Minority groups especially suffered under the terror group's rule, including Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians.
The Shingal area remains unstable due to insecurity and lack of basic services. Around 200,000 Yazidis who fled Shingal in 2014 still live in the Kurdistan Region, many of whom linger in IDP camps and live well below the poverty line, unable to return home.
Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in 2020 to return security to Shingal, but it has yet to be fully implemented.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. Over 2,000 remain missing.