Annual day of genocide: Yazidis suffer from northern Iraq!

Annual day of genocide: Yazidis suffer from northern Iraq!

Dohuk, Irak - For a decade, the Yazidis in northern Iraq has suffered from the devastating consequences of genocide by the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). This brutal attack began in August 2014, when IS fighters attacked Yesidi villages and committed systematic murders, rapes and enslavements; It is estimated that more than 5,000 people were killed and around 7,000 were kidnapped. To date, many of them have been housed in refugee camps, where hopelessness is continuously increasing. According to Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, professor of psychotherapy, around 2600 Yazidis are still missing and living conditions in the camps represent a permanent burden.

trauma and missing perspectives

The psychological wounds are deep: Kizilhan reports on the continuing traumatization in the community, where almost every person has lost a family member. Grief and trauma with the survivors who could never process their loss weighs particularly hard. The children who witnessed atrocities during the genocide also carry heavy mental loads with them. The current everyday life in the camps is characterized by deficiency and brutal reality in which many young girls lose hope. Psychological help is urgently needed; But despite a suicide prevention program, the demand for psychological support has increased because desperate people are looking for help.

The situation in Iraq remains tense: destruction, control by various militant groups and an uncertain political situation hinder the reconstruction of the Yazidi areas. Kizilhan finds that the Yazidis are caught in the camps without return perspectives, which leads to a silent genocide. The hope for normalcy is disappearing while the international community, especially Germany, continues to be confronted with political hurdles and deportations. The Bundestag has recognized the genocide, but Yazidis in Germany is nevertheless deported to Iraq. So the question remains: What happens to a community that has existed for over 4000 years and is now threatened in its existence?

Schwäbische Zeitung reported on the ongoing challenges of the Yazidis. In addition, information about the background and the devastating events in 2014 in this Contribution from the Federal Center for Political Education .