Syrian Kurdish authorities return 27 freed Yezidis to Shingal

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian Kurdish authorities on Monday announced the return of 27 Yezidis (Ezidi) who had been freed from the so-called Islamic State to their home in Sinjar (Shingal).

The group of rescued Ezidis consist of women and children only, a security source told reporters outside of the Ezidi House, a shelter in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) which reunites rescued Ezidis with their families.

The freed Ezidis had been staying at the Al-Hol camp.

Related Article: Kurdish forces deliver 25 Yezidis to rescue office in northeastern Syria

The emergence of the Islamic State and its violent assault on Iraq’s Ezidi-majority city of Shingal in August 2014 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of members of the Ezidi community and the killing of thousands. 

Most of them fled to the Kurdistan Region while others resettled in neighboring countries or Western states.

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

As of now, about 3,400 Ezidis have been rescued from an estimated total of 6,417 kidnapped or otherwise missing, according to the Kurdistan Region’s office in charge of their rescue and repatriation.