Decade After Yazidi Genocide, Survivors Grappling to Rebuild Lives

Nearly a decade after ISIL’s massacre of the Yazidi people in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of survivors remain displaced, unable to safely return home, Al Jazeera reported yesterday.

According to a new report by NGOs Refugees International and Voice of Ezidis, over 200,000 Yazidis are still displaced in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, while many attempting dangerous journeys to Europe are left in legal limbo.

The Yazidis, an ancient religious minority, suffered devastating atrocities in 2014 when ISIL killed or kidnapped nearly 10,000, with 2,800 women and children believed to be still missing, the source mentioned.

Though mass graves continue to be uncovered, the Yazidi community still grapples with trauma, lacking political agency and facing barriers to compensation.

With the Iraqi government pushing camp closures, Yazidi survivors express fear over returning to the dangerous conditions in their devastated homeland of Sinjar.