Iraqi Troops rescue Yazidis

What is the current state of the ethnic minority?

A group of 36 Yazidis have been rescued from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) by Iraqi forces in Mosul on the 30^th of April 2017. The group of men, women and children who were in captivity for three years were taken to Dohuk in Kurdish northern Iraq and were provided with clothing, medical and psychological assistance in centers established by the UN Population Fund.

WHO ARE THE YAZIDIS?

The Yazidis are the oldest ethno religious minority community of Iraq. There are approximately 600,000 Yazidis in the world, majority of them (500,000) living in the northern part of Iraq, in north-central Nineveh province and northeastern Iraqi Kurdistan. The rest live in neighboring countries like Turkey, Iran, Germany, etc. It is believed that the Yazidi religion is linked to the ancient Persian and Mesopotamian religions with Christian, Muslim and Sufi influences. The persecutions of the Yazidis had started in the 70’s when Saddam Hussain relocated them to poorly resourced areas and forced them to speak Arabic. Yazidi theology has many influences, one of which includes some resemblances to the Abrahamic fable of Satan. This was misunderstood of them worshipping Satan, which was the root cause of their origin persecution for centuries.

What is the current situation of Yazidi’s in Iraq?

The city of Mosul in the northern part of Iraq was under the control of the ISIL since 2014. The Tigris River in Mosul along with the rich oil fields and vast agricultural land is of economic importance to the ISIL. Sinjar, which also lies in the northern part of Iraq, was captured by the ISIL in 2014. When IS attacked the Yazidis in Mosul, they took many of the victims as captives. They raped, forcibly married and converted thousands of Yazidi women to Islam, using them as sex slaves. According to the UN reports, no other religious group present in the ISIL controlled region has been subjected to the destruction that the Yazidis have suffered. ISIL offered two options to the Yazidis, either convert to Islam or be executed on spot. The Iraqi government has ascertained that ISIL will be dislodged from the country in a month’s time with the help of the UN. They also have declared unwavering support for the Yazidi’s and their protection from the Islamic State. Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is also willing to provide autonomy for Iraq’s Yazidi Kurds.

ASSESSMENT

Yazidi women ceased by ISIL were bartered and sold in the market to the highest bidder and became victims of sexual violence. They have been reduced to having no human rights and constantly paraded in videos being at the mercy of the terrorist organization. ISIL’s aim of ethnical cleansing had taken the form of genocide, though there is a fine line between the two. Ethnic cleansing involves expulsion of a group from a certain area usually through non-criminal means, whereas genocide is mass expulsion through intentional murder. ISIL have been defeated in Mosul, but they still have control over vast swaths of land in the border area with Syria. But what the fate of the Yazidi’s will be and whether they can escape prosecution, remains to be seen.