Politics

UK fully supports implementation of Yezidi Survivors Law: UK Minister

“I discussed the situation in Sinjar, the challenges facing the Yazidi community and the UK’s support for the full implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/03/04 00:12

Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations visited Lalesh on Thursday, March 2, 2023 (Photo: Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon/Twitter).

Kurdistan Yezidi Yezidi Survivors Law Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon UK

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reiterated his full support for the Yezidi Survivors Law during a visit to Yezidi holy temple of Lalish.

I discussed the situation in Sinjar, the challenges facing the Yazidi community and the UK’s support for the full implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law with spiritual leader Baba Sheikh Ali Elias and Prince Hazem Tahsin Beg#ForSurvivorsWithSurvivors. pic.twitter.com/gppaxpVHQA
— Lord (Tariq)Ahmad of Wimbledon (@tariqahmadbt) March 3, 2023

“I discussed the situation in Sinjar, the challenges facing the Yazidi community and the UK’s support for the full implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law with spiritual leader Baba Sheikh Ali Elias and Prince Hazem Tahsin Beg,” he tweeted on Friday.

He also stressed that the UK remained committed to the freedom of religion and beliefs.

On Mar. 1, 2021, Iraq's parliament ratified the Yezidi Survivors Law, in order to support minority survivors and the Yezidi victims of the genocide committed by ISIS in 2014.

To date, however, the law has not been implemented, two years after the ratification of the law.

A report published on Wednesday by the Coalition for Just Reparations (C4JR), an alliance of Iraqi Civil Society Organizations, noted that there are concerns with the implementation process due to “deeply discouraging strict evidentiary requirements that have been unexpectedly introduced in the second half of 2022, and lack any legal basis.

Nevertheless, it also noted a more positive development: “that financing of the Yezidi Survivors Law through the Emergency Law passed in June 2022 indicates that members of Iraq’s Council of Representatives, elected in 2021, consider the Yezidi Survivors Law a priority.”

According to a recent statement of the SEED Foundation in the Kurdistan Region, so far, only 420 eligible individuals have been successfully processed under the Yezidi Survivors Law and they will receive their monthly salaries in the coming days.

However, the SEED Foundation said the implementation of the law is plagued with numerous challenges, including requiring survivors to file a criminal complaint through the courts and submit relevant investigation documents in order for their applications to be considered and successfully processed.