“I have taken on the role of father and mother to my younger sisters,” says Yezidi survivor “Hala Safeel,” who lives with her family in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Hala Safeel fled from the grip of the Islamic State (ISIS), , which committed genocide against her Yezidi people, four years ago, after she suffered through three years of ISIS captivity. But she is still living through the period of imprisonment, as the fate of her parents and three of her siblings is still unknown. Safeel says: “Despite everything, and despite what I have been through, I see myself as strong and courageous, and will defend my rights and the rights of all Yezidi survivors until justice is done.”
Hala is not the only one who is trying to discover the fate of her loved ones. She rarely encounters a Yezidi citizen who has not lost a loved one, despite the fact that seven years have passed since her kidnapping by ISIS.
Hala describes the situation of the Yazidi survivors as tragic. The Yezidis have not yet found support from the Iraqi government and have reintegrated into Yezidi society again. Yezidi survivors face difficulties in accessing employment opportunities and the economic situation is poor.
Despite suffering in ISIS captivity, Hala encourages other survivors to work, to participate in activities and to stay strong, and she says that she aspires to a bright future and is working to achieve her goals by attaining justice for herself and all other Yezidi survivors.
Zidan Ismail is a Yezidi activist from Iraq who has written opinion articles on Jihad Watch. He is an interpreter and translator for legal language at the Ahmet Yildirim law office in Hanover, Germany.