Vian Dakhil, %70 of Yezidi people are displaced, live in camps in Kurdistan Region
“There is a new generation, following years of the tragedy occurred upon Yezidi community in 2014 by the ISIS terrorists, grew up away from Sinjar, not knowing about their culture and own area” Mrs. Dakhil highlighted.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Yazidi Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament and Head of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)’s Faction at the Iraqi Federal Government Vian Dakhil was interviewed by the Kurdistan 24 on August 3rd.
In the memory of the 10th anniversary of Sinjar massacre, an immense event was arranged in Erbil where KDP President Barzani, Kurdistan Regional President Nerchirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Mir Hazim Tahsin Beg, the Mir of the Yezidis, and many more international and local officials attended.
In her interview session, Mrs. Dakhil stated “the Iraqi government has not recognized the massacre in Sinjar as genocide, neither worked to implement the Sinjar agreement,”
According to her statement, nearly %70 of Yezidi people are displaced and live in camps in the Kurdistan Region. Also, there hasn’t been any serious actions from the Iraqi government to work towards implementing the Sinjar agreement in term of returning displaced people to their ancestral homeland.
It is understood that due to the presence of armed forces, militias and groups in the zone, as well as lack of public services and Iraqi Government’s being complicit, Yezidi people live in camps, unable to return to their historical place of living in Sinjar.
Read More: Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Government extends tributes to Sinjar massacre
“There is a new generation, following years of the tragedy occurred upon Yezidi community in 2014 by the ISIS terrorists, grew up away from Sinjar, not knowing about their culture and own area” Dakhil highlighted.
"So far, the Iraqi government has not compensated the Yezidis. Out of 8,000 compensation cases, the federal government only compensated 20 Yezidis families, which was a very small number and unacceptable," She also disclosed “many western countries recognized the massacre of the Yezidis as genocide, the western countries hugely supported and assisted Yazidi people.”
Read More: KDP President Barzani calls for justice, restoration on 10th anniversary of Sinjar genocide
Mount Sinjar was the only place the Yezidis took refuge to avoid falling into the hands of ISIS terrorists in Agust 2014. Some of them stayed in the mountain for many years, some of them reached West Kurdistan and then returned through the Semelka-Pishkhabur gate were displaced over the cities of the Kurdistan Region.
According to the sources, more than 325,000 Yazidis were displaced due to ISIS attacks. According to the latest statistics of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Presidency Office for the Rescue of Kidnapped Yezidis, 135,860 Yezidi Kurds were displaced and fled to Kurdistan Region, 189,337 people were displaced over separated zones and areas of South Kurdistan.
Depending on the statistics, 6,417 Kurdish Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS terrorists, 3,579 were rescued so far, however, it is believe over 2,600 are still missing.
In November 2015, the Peshmerga troops, led by President Barzani and supported by the international coalition against ISIS, launched an operation to regain control over Sinjar, which occurred within 24 hours.
According to the UN, there are 550,000 Yezidis in Iraq because of the situation in Sinjar, the majority of Yezidis now live outside their homeland areas.