The Yezidis: People of an Ancient Faith Battle Ethnic Cleansing

Abstract

Among the many victims of the barbarous Daesh (what Arabs call ISIS or ISIL), none has suffered more severely than the Kurdish Yezidis. After overrunning a number of Yezidi villages in Northern Syria and Iraq during the summer of 2014, Daesh extremists – who consider Yezidis to be “devil-worshippers” – systematically executed Yezidi men, while taking thousands of Yezidi women and girls as sex slaves. Thousands more Yezidis who were fortunate enough to escape the Daesh onslaught became refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan or Turkey, or even worse, remained trapped up in the Shingal (Shinjar) mountains of northeastern Syria after their villages below were seized by Daesh. In recent days the Kurdish Peshmarga militia have succeeded in breaking the Daesh siege of Shingal and opening a corridor to the refugees there, but with winter now upon them Yezidi refugees face additional hardships and challenges to their very survival. The Kurdistan Regional Government is doing what they can to supply food, blankets, and winter coat, but much more is needed... Show more