Sinjar (Shengal), a town considered sacred by Ezidi Kurds, has been occupied by ISIS gangs since the night of 2nd of August.
When the gangs entered the town of Sinjar and hung up their black flags, the people were fleeing for fear of massacre. The occupation of the town has displaced about 200,000 Ezidi Kurds.
While most of the people are fleeing towards Duhok, Zaxo, some tens of thousands of people are heading for the hills, particularly the Jabal mountains of Sinjar. However, while the tens of thousands of people in the Jabal mountains are protected by YPG forces (People’s Protection Force of Rojava), a humanitarian tragedy will follow surely, as they have no access to water and food.
While we welcome the protection and defence of our Ezidi people by the YPG and Peshmerga forces of KRG, there is an urgent need for western governments and international organisations like the UN to offer humanitarian aid and to engage in political and diplomatic efforts. The ISIS aggression and terrorism can be prevented, if diplomatic and political measures are taken against the forces behind ISIS.
Amongst the civilians are thousands of children. The international community, particularly the UN, the Iraqi Government and KRG should not leave the civilians to their fate. A humanitarian tragedy must be prevented immediately, as there is high risk of deaths by hunger and thirst.
Sinjar is close to the Iraq-Syria border. Links between the Ezidi areas of Khanesor and Sinune and the district centre of Sinjar are obstructed by Jebel (mount) Sinjar, making it difficult for Ezidis to come to the aid for those in the district centre.
ISIS is continuing with crimes against humanity following its brutal attacks against the people in Rojava and the Christians in Mosul. Now they commit the same crimes in Sinjar against Ezidi Kurds. Many Ezidi Kurdish women have been abducted. Thousands of Ezidi are forced by violence to convert to Islam and threatened with massacre if they refuse.
ISIS has openly proclaimed that they are intending to transform the demography of the region. With their ruthless methods they have thrown the whole region into an uncertain and dangerous future.
The threat of a new massacre against the Ezidi Kurdish people of Sinjar is becoming a real possibility and the danger is increasing by hours.
Urgent humanitarian demands:
– Providing urgent food and water to those places
– Safe transfer of those people to Rojava and KRG
– Humanitarian assistance to refugees who fled to Rojava
Executive Council of KNK
Nilüfer Koç Co-Chairwoman of the Kurdistan National Congress Mobile +964 7503716904 Office + 32 2 647 3084 e-mail [email protected] Skype nilufer.koc3 www.kongrakurdistan.net
