Yazidi Genocide

Overview

In August 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) perpetrated genocide and other gross human rights violations against religious and ethnic minority groups in Northern Iraq. ISIS specifically targeted religious minority communities and viewed them as "infidels."

This systematic persecution led to the mass killing of an estimated 5,000 Yazidis, the abduction of an estimated 6,800 Yazidis (mainly women and children), the forced conversion of countless Yazidis, the destruction of Yazidi religious and cultural sites, farms, and homes, and the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Yazidis from Sinjar district alone.

Most of the Yazidi women and girls, especially those held in captivity, SGBV survivors, and survivors of other atrocities by ISIS, face traumatic experiences when they return to their areas of origin. Trauma, anxiety, fear of isolation, and repeated violence play a significant role in the lives of survivors. Many suffer from psychological and psychosomatic problems and chronic medical complaints and have limited hope for the future.

Seven years after the genocide, essential issues remain for survivors, including a lack of justice and accountability, slight economic recovery, an absence of any comprehensive reparations program, and poor and infeasible processes for returns to people’s home areas. In addition, the plight of Yazidi women and girls remains unresolved, as thousands are still in captivity; those who have returned find little support because of a lack of a comprehensive reparations program or essential services.

Over 60 percent of the Yazidi and other ethnic and religious minority populations live in IDP camps without real prospects of returning to their home areas.

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