The genocide against the Yazidis is still ongoing

By Farhad Barakat

Since 2014, the Yazidi people have been subjected to the most heinous ISIS attacks, and they have suffered greatly.

On August 3, 2014, ISIS terrorists attacked the Yazidi people from three directions: Til Banat in the east, Girzerik in the south, and Siba Shekhidir in the west. The Yazidis began fighting ISIS so that their families could reach Sinjar Mountain and save themselves.

Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced to Kurdistan, thousands were killed, and over 7000 women and children were kidnapped as a result of the Genocide, Following the Yazidi people’s stay in the mountain, approximately 1000 elderly and children died of thirst and hunger. In addition more than 120000 Yazidi were migrated abroad.

So the Yazidi genocide is still going on, because hundreds of thousands of people are living in IDP camps in Kurdistan, and they never know when their tents will be burned, despite the fact that more than 20 tents have been burned so far this year. Even in Sinjar, the situation is unstable; there are no services, no security, and no future for those who live in the city. Furthermore, Turkish air strikes target this city and kill civilians for the purpose of targeting the PKK, but only Yazidis become victims of everything that happens.

Finally, Yazidi people in this country have lost faith in any positive hope. The youth in Sinjar and IDP camps in Kurdistan are very pessimistic and do not feel safe in this country, according to our observations. This minority has been subjected to more than 74 genocides, with no action taken to protect them. They have requested either international protection or mass migration in order to be protected and avoid another genocide in the future.