Eight years ago, the Yazidis in northern Iraq were driven out by IS terrorists. Thousands of them were abducted, enslaved, raped or killed. The UN spoke of genocide. Now the religious minority is being forced to flee again – by the Iraqi army. SRF Middle East correspondent Susanne Brunner knows more about the background.
SRF News: What do you know about the situation in the Sinjar region?
Susanne Brunner: At the beginning of the week, Turkey bombed the Sinjar area because this is a safe haven for the Kurdish Workers’ Party, PKK, which is banned in Turkey and described as a terrorist organization. PKK fighters from the region repeatedly launch attacks on Turkish soldiers in the Iraqi-Turkish border area. The PKK is also hated by the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Iraq in Erbil – because of its disputes with Turkey, northern Iraq repeatedly suffers from air raids by the Turkish army.
In 2014, it was PKK fighters of all people who were the only ones who stood by the Yazidis against the atrocities committed by IS terrorists.
The fact is that no one really has control over the Sinjar region west of Mosul, and the Iraqi army has now stepped in to take action against the PKK fighters – and against armed Yazidis who are allied with the PKK. The Yazidi civilians are thus caught between the fronts of the fighting against the Kurdish PKK – and in 2014 it was PKK fighters who were the only ones who had supported the Yazidis against the atrocities of the IS terrorists.
Around eight years ago, IS attacks on the Yazidis in northern Iraq caused horror around the world, and hundreds of thousands of them fled. So had they returned to their homeland of Sinjar in the meantime?
No, most of the refugees have not yet returned. The IS brutally crushed the Yazidi community in 2014, the UN speaks of genocide. Hundreds of thousands fled, many abroad, with no hope of returning. The reconstruction of Sinjar is also progressing very slowly.
Around 700 Yazidi families are now fleeing.
With no infrastructure and no protection from new violence, only a few Yazidis returned to the region – and they now had to flee the violence again. Around 700 families who had to mourn the deaths or abducted relatives by IS in 2014 and had to flee themselves are now fleeing again.
Legend:
Not only Turkey, but also the Iraqi army is taking action against PKK fighters in the Sinjar region – and against Yazidi fighters allied with them.
key stone
It seems that the Yazidis are vulnerable to violence – is there no one in Iraq to protect them?
No – and that is the tragedy of Sinjar, but also the tragedy of Iraq. It is a typical and sad example of the fact that Iraq is not a sovereign country. Sinjar is a gateway for a wide range of regional powers such as Turkey and Iran, but also for criminal gangs such as smugglers, criminals and, years ago, the IS terrorists, who only just attacked Sinjar again last January.
Sinjar is a gateway for various regional powers and criminal gangs.
Nobody can guarantee the safety of the Yazidis. The only thing they can do is arm themselves and try to protect their people. Most of the time, however, the few Yazidi fighters only manage to gain some time so that their loved ones can flee. And then they themselves die in the fighting.
Brigitte Kramer conducted the interview.