Iraq's parliament to compensate Yezidis, assist return of displaced: Speaker

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi on Friday announced that he will focus on compensating the nation's Yezidi (Ezidi) religious minority that suffered mass atrocities under the Islamic State (IS) and the nation's legislative body would assist displaced members of the decimated community in returning home.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi on Friday announced that he will focus on compensating the nation's Yezidi (Ezidi) religious minority that suffered mass atrocities under the Islamic State (IS) and the nation's legislative body would assist displaced members of the decimated community in returning home.

Halbousi’s comments came during his visit to the town of Shekhan in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok Province, where he joined Ezidi leaders in celebrating the group’s yearly fasting and Eid of Ezi.

He also visited Lalish, the Ezidi’s holiest temple, also located in Duhok.

“They [Ezidis] are part of the indigenous people of Iraq… Today, they are standing on their feet amid the adversities and threats they face. This puts a responsibility on our shoulders to provide them all their needs and a stable life and to create social harmony,” Halbousi told reporters in Shekhan.

“We in the Council of Representatives [Parliament] have many legal responsibilities on our shoulders which includes compensating the victims, providing the needs necessary for having a decent life, helping displaced people return to their ancestral homes, providing job opportunities, and helping security members from all communities in Nineveh to return, bringing security and stability to the province and to prevent terrorists from returning to create instability.”

He congratulated Ezidis on their religious observance and thanked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for becoming a safe haven for displaced Ezidis.

Halbousi’s visit comes as Ezidi Noble Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad on Thursday stated that she will visit Shingal from the direction of Duhok and officially reopen the main road, closed since Oct. 2017 following Iraqi forces takeover of the area.

In a congratulatory statement addressed to Ezidis on Friday, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani stated that the KRG will do its best to help the displaced Ezidis to return to their areas of origin with pride, and rescue large numbers of those still missing.

The Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Masrour Barzani also congratulated Ezidis in a tweet on his official Twitter account that read, “While the past has been painful for you, I’m humbled by your resilience in the face of genocide and trust that brighter days are ahead of you.”

The emergence of IS and its violent assault on the predominantly Ezidi city of Shingal in 2014 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Ezidis. Most of them fled to the Kurdistan Region, while others moved to neighboring countries in the region or resettled to Western states.

Prior to the 2014 attack, there were roughly 550,000 Ezidis in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. As the jihadist group took over large swaths of territory in Nineveh Province, 360,000 Ezidis escaped violence and found refuge elsewhere, with most of them ending up in the Kurdistan Region, according to the Ezidi Rescue Office.

Over the past few years, the rescue office has reportedly freed 3,334 Ezidis, with 3,084 more said to remain in captivity.

The community suffered atrocities and mass executions at the hands of the extremist group for years after IS overran Shingal, forcing a majority of them to flee their homes. Others were not as lucky and remained stranded in the war zone.

IS subjected thousands of women to sexual slavery and kidnapped scores of children, forced religious conversions, executed many men and also abused, sold, and trafficked girls across areas they controlled in Iraq and Syria.

Editing by John J. Catherine