Remains of 22 Yazidi Victims Returned to Sinjar for Burial
The remains of 22 Yazidi victims of ISIS have been identified and returned to Sinjar for burial. It is the 7th such handover since 2021, with dozens of mass graves and hundreds of victims still awaiting exhumation and identification.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — In a somber step towards closure for a community devastated by genocide, the remains of 22 Yazidi victims exhumed from ISIS mass graves have arrived in Mosul, with a formal ceremony planned for their handover and burial in their Sinjar homeland on Wednesday following their identification through DNA analysis in Baghdad.
This marks the seventh such occasion where families will be able to lay their loved ones to rest after years of agonizing uncertainty.
A Kurdistan24 correspondent reported that the remains are scheduled to be handed over to their families at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.
A ceremony will be held in the village of 'Solagh' in Sinjar, where the victims will be laid to rest. This follows an announcement in mid-July by Kheri Ali, the head of the "Petrichor" organization for human rights, who confirmed that after the completion of forensic procedures in Baghdad, the remains of 22 victims would be ready for return.
In a previous statement to Kurdistan24, Ali clarified that the remains to be handed over belong to four women and eighteen men, a group that also includes children.
The victims were from different villages and areas across the Sinjar region, including ten from the village of Kocho, two from Tel Uzair, two from Qini, two from Solagh, two from Hamdan, one from Hardan, and four from various other areas.
This detailed breakdown underscores the widespread nature of the atrocities committed against the Yazidi community.
The process of identifying and returning victims has been a slow and painstaking one.
According to Ali, this is the seventh time remains have been officially handed over to families since the process began in 2021.
The previous handovers included 104 remains on Feb. 6, 2021; 42 on Dec. 9, 2021; 16 on Oct. 24, 2022; 39 on Jun. 20, 2023; 41 on Nov. 22, 2024; and 32 on Feb. 21, 2025.
The head of the Petrichor organization provided stark figures that reveal the immense scale of the task that still lies ahead.
He stated that Iraqi authorities have so far located 93 mass graves of victims of the genocide against the Yazidis.
Of these, only 55 have been opened, leaving 38 graves completely unexhumed. Furthermore, of the 750 remains that have been exhumed from the opened graves, the identities of only 274 have been successfully confirmed through DNA analysis.
Ali affirmed that the efforts of human rights organizations, in coordination with official authorities, are ongoing to accelerate the examination and handover processes, and to enable families to finally bury their loved ones with dignity after years of waiting.
