Yezidi girl saved from Syria’s al-Hol camp

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Yezidi female survivor named Firyal Khidir, who was kidnapped by ISIS fighters during the Yezidi genocide in Shingal (Sinjar), was rescued on Tuesday from al-Hol camp.

She was found nine years after the ISIS attack on Shingal (Sinjar) living among thousands of ISIS families in the notorious al-Hol camp.

In Aug. 2014, ISIS militants attacked the Yezidi-majority town of Sinjar and nearby villages, killing at least 5,000 Yezidis as well as enslaving about 6,000 women and minors. Around 400,000 others were displaced by the offensive.

Read More: President Barzani vows unwavering commitment to rescue all kidnapped Yezidis

In a conference this August,Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani stated that 1,244 kidnapped Yezidi girls, women, 1,402 men, and youth are still missing.

Moreover, he said that strong efforts by the Kidnapped Yezidi Rescue Office resulted in the rescue of at least 1,208 women, 339 men, and 2,023 children.

“As long as there is one Yezidi kidnapped left, this section of my office will remain and will continue to find and rescue the kidnapped," the president said.

Read More: Kurdistan Region to continue rescuing abducted Yezidis, says KRI President Barzani

According to statistics from the Kidnapped Yezidi Rescue Office, 6,417 Yezidi’s were abducted by ISIS militants during the genocide, of whom 3,458 have been rescued so far.

Yezidi organizations have repeatedly called on the international community and regional states to do more to find their missing women, men and children.

Award-winning Dutch-Kurdish filmmaker Reber Dosky previously told Kurdistan 24 that there are still Yezidi women and children being held by women with Islamic State ties in al-Hol who scare them into thinking “their own Yezidi community will kill them when they go back.”