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Child Protection Iraq Project #21523

Yezidi Children's Safe Space

by Free Yezidi Foundation

Project Report | Oct 18, 2022
SEPTEMBER 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

By Pari Ibrahim | Executive Director

SEPTEMBER 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

Dear friends,

Please read below for the Free Yezidi Foundation's news and updates for the month of September.

FYF MEETS WITH FRENCH INVESTIGATIVE JUDGES

On 29 September the Free Yezidi Foundation and legal representatives met with two French investigative judges. FYF has been accepted as a partie civile in the landmark criminal case against Lafarge. FYF will be submitting confidential documents and documents open to the public. At this meeting, FYF submitted a document which can be viewed in English or in French on our website. FYF is grateful to its legal representative in France, Ms. Clemence Bectarte, and to two esteemed international human rights lawyers, Ms. Patricia Viseur Sellers and Ms. Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, for their assistance in preparing for the meeting and composing this document.

FYF submits evidence to French investigative judges on 29 September 2022

FYF AND IOM-IRAQ CONDUCT MEETING WITH MALE YEZIDI SURVIVORS

Male Yezidi survivors have suffered enormously through in the Yezidi genocide, and yet their plight and their needs have often been neglected. FYF and a number of other actors are seeking to prioritize their well-being and ensure they benefit from the provisions included in the Yezidi Survivors' Law, which includes provisions for survivors who were abducted as children. FYF was grateful to partner with IOM to help ensure this category of survivors are also informed of their rights and the benefits to which they are entitled.

YEZIDIS LIBERATED FROM AL-HOL CAMP, SYRIA

Many ISIS members who were captured alive are currently held by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northeast Syria. This includes male and female ISIS members. One notorious detention camp, Al-Hol, currently holds about 56,000 female ISIS members and affiliates, along with their children. Yezidi captives were enslaved by both male and female ISIS members, and it is known that some missing Yezidis remain held by ISIS in Syria and Turkey. This month, SDF forces conducted a series of raids in Al-Hol camp, liberating several Yezidi women. FYF expressed outrage that Yezidis remain held by female ISIS members, even in detention centers, more than eight years after the Yezidi Genocide began in 2014.

MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR THREE-YEAR OLD MARIA

FYF was asked to help support a crowdfunding effort for Maria, a three-year old Yezidi child with an aggressive tumor. Doctors in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are not able to operate safely to remove the tumor. Activists and Maria's family worked with FYF to collect funds from around the world. In the first disbursement, FYF crowdfunded $3131, which was signed and hand-delivered to Maria's father. FYF has just received a further deposit of just over $7000. 100% of the proceeds go to Maria's family, which will help them travel abroad and pay for the medical treatment. We are optimistic that the family's goal will be reached. Thanks to those of you who have helped provide life-saving medical support for young Maria, and thanks to Yezidi activist Murad Ismael for spurring this humanitarian effort.

Maria suffering from a tumor; FYF Country Director Hewan Omer and Maria's father complete paperwork for first tranche of funding.

FYF CONTRIBUTES TO PLAY IN NETHERLANDS

FYF is supporting a play in the Netherlands that focuses on the plight of Yezidis and the aftermath of the Yezidi Genocide. Toneel Groep Maastricht commissioned handcrafted carpets from the FYF Enterprise & Training Center as backdrops for the play, and traveled to Khanke to purchase them and meet with the Yezidi community in Iraq. The group is committed to sharing the story of Yezidi suffering in the Netherlands, and we commend them for this effort. More information and ticket registration can be found here. Previously, a Dutch female ISIS accomplice wrote a book and was featured in a public play in the Netherlands, to the consternation of FYF and the Yezidi community. We are pleased to now see a theatrical representation of the Yezidi community that suffered from the atrocities committed by ISIS.

DID YOU KNOW?

Last month we launched an initiative in which friends all over the world can fund a displaced Yezidi child's birthday. Most Yezidi children have been deprived of childhood innocence and happiness since the Yezidi Genocide began in 2014. Thanks to your generosity, we have enough funds for 28 less fortunate Yezidi children to hold birthday parties, in each case inviting ten friends or family members. Here is a photo from the first such donor-funded party. If you would like to participate, click here. Thank you for supporting Yezidi children!

Thank you all, as always, for your steadfast support of FYF and the Yezidi community.

Sincerely,

Pari Ibrahim
Executive Director
Free Yezidi Foundation

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Sep 2, 2022
AUGUST 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

By Pari Ibrahim | Executive Director

AUGUST 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

Dear friends,

The Yezidi community gathers every year in August to commemorate the 2014 Yezidi Genocide, assess challenges, and call for support to and solidarity with our people. Please read on for August monthly news and updates.

YEZIDI GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

The Free Yezidi Foundation, Sinjar Academy, and Youth Bridge Development Organization held an in-person commemoration event at FYF's Enterprise & Training Center in Khanke. The event included displays by Yezidi artists and statements by Yezidi civilians and UN and diplomatic spokespeople. Mahdi Murad opened the ceremony with his poem: "We have lived eight years as if they were one day. We all became orphans after August 3rd. We don't want to live a jungle life where the strong eat the weak... the young have lost years of their lives."

A two-minute video from a journalist who covered the commemoration event can be found by clicking here .

FYF, SA, YB staff members united on 3 August; Abo Majed holds photos of missing family members; paintings by Yezidi artists on display; UNITAD and Netherlands representatives address Yezidi community

FYF also hosted four virtual panels to commemorate the Yezidi Genocide. These panels included Yezidi and international experts as well as representatives from governments, United Nations, and non-governmental organizations.

- "In most genocides, there is some story of 'we did not know it was happening.' But with ISIS, it was happening in plain sight. When [European ISIS members] do return, we should not prosecute them for smaller crimes, but we should prosecute them for complicity in genocide." - Netherlands Member of Parliament Pieter Omtzigt

- "When I speak as a prosecutor about holding ISIS perpetrators accountable for atrocious crimes against Yezidis, I have to say that there is still a lot to be done, and that the process of bringing ISIS to justice has just started." - German federal prosecutor Anna Zabeck

- "I call upon the Government of Iraq to use a whole-of-government approach to support the Directorate for Survivors' Affairs created by the Yezidi Survivors' Law to deliver on each of the benefits promised by the law." United Nations SRSG Pramila Patten

- "The Sinjar Agreement lacked extensive consultation with the local population...it cannot be implemented effectively nor improve the lives of Sinjar's residents if it does not receive buy-in from the local community...the US Government has heard this loud and clear from the Yezidi community." - US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Jen Gavito

The full recorded discussion can be viewed on FYF's social media platforms. Click here to watch.

FYF released a 3 August 2022 statement calling on international stakeholders and policymakers to contribute to the well-being, empowerment, and rehabilitation of the Yezidi community. The statement calls for the following:

- No-fly zone over Sinjar
- Education and empowerment of Yezidi IDPs
- A functional plan to rescue missing Yezidis and support survivor recovery
- Ensuring ISIS perpetrators held in Syria face justice
- Allocation of resources for Yezidi civil society

FYF Executive Director Pari Ibrahim also co-authored three opinion pieces to mark the Yezidi Genocide:

Yezidi Post-Genocide Plight - Severe Challenges Eight Years on (Newsweek)
Remembering the Yezidi Genocide Eight Years Ago (Jerusalem Post)
Eight Years after Genocide, the World Owes the Yezidis a Debt (National Interest)

Finally, the US Department of State released a video about FYF's work to commemorate the Yezidi Genocide. Click here to watch.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS FOR DISPLACED YEZIDI CHILDREN

This month FYF announced an initiative to throw birthday parties for displaced Yezidi children. Many young Yezidis in Iraq have lived in IDP or refugee camps for most or all of their lives, and many have never celebrated a birthday. You can now sponsor a birthday party for a Yezidi child and ten of his or her friends at FYF's Sugar is Sweet bakery and café.

The child will receive a hand-crafted stuffed animal, made by our Yezidi crafts artisans, and a birthday party with cakes, drinks, and sweets at our cafe, staffed 100% by displaced Yezidi women. This initiative helps to support the crafts and bakery enterprises while providing displaced Yezidi children with a day of hope, happiness, and pleasant memories. You can participate in this initiative today by clicking here.

FYF REMEMBERS THE KOCHO MASSACRE

The Yezidi community remembers the Kocho massacre, which occurred on 15 August 2014, each year. FYF has worked with many survivors from Kocho who continue their struggle to overcome the loss and grief in the aftermath of the Yezidi Genocide.

COMMEMORATING VICTIMS OF RELIGIOUS-BASED VIOLENCE

FYF joined lawyers and activists on a panel to mark the International Day Commemorating Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief this month. FYF highlighted the centuries-long marginalization and oppression of the Yezidi community that continues to threaten Yezidis living in Iraq and Syria.

DID YOU KNOW?

Of the Yezidis who once lived in Afrin, Syria, 90% have been forced to flee. Turkish-backed militias terrorize those who remain, include ISIS and Al-Qaeda members, and have been engaged in facilitating the trafficking of Yezidi and other women. Afrin is now a hotbed of extremism.

Thank you all, as always, for keeping up with our news and work, and for your steadfast support of FYF and the Yezidi community.

Sincerely,

Pari Ibrahim
Executive Director
Free Yezidi Foundation

IN THE NEWS

Newsweek | Yazidi Post-Genocide Plight - Severe Challenges Eight Years on – Opinion | Pari Ibrahim and Murad Ismael discuss the extensive challenges which continue to plague Yezidis

The Jerusalem Post | Remembering the Yezidi Genocide eight years ago - By Pari Ibrahim and Susan Heller Pinto | The Yezidi experience has ongoing significance for the Middle East and the region’s other religious minorities

The National Interest | Eight Years After Genocide, the World Owes the Yezidis a Debt - by Megan Bodette and Pari Ibrahim | The international community must commit to empowering Yezidis to build a safe, sustainable post-ISIS future with the same vigor deployed in defeating ISIS

U.N. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence and Conflict | SRSG Patten’s Video Remarks for the Free Yezidi Foundation’s Eight-Year Commemoration of the Yezidi Genocide, 3 August 2022 | "... we have a special thought for those from your community that remain missing ... I and the entire United Nations system stand with you."

United States Institute of Peace | Five Ways to Make the U.S. Atrocity Prevention Strategy Work | While real challenges remain, the strategy represents important progress. FYF was thanked for our essential work along with our partners in this work.

The Mirror | Inside horror camp women and children are still stuck in 8 years after ISIS massacre | Pari Ibrahim cites the trauma, desperation and seeing no hope for the future as one of the reasons suicide rates are alarmingly high

Middle East Eye | Iraq: Dutch police seek information on perpetrators of Islamic State crimes against Yazidis | At a panel sponsored by FYF, the discussion focused on the hunt for Dutch nationals or those residing in The Netherlands involved in genocide comes as Yazidis commemorate eighth anniversary of mass killings in Iraq

Medya News | Eight Year Commemoration of the Yezidi Genocide online event | FYF’s series of four online panels addressed ongoing work to achieve justice for the victims of the Yezidi genocide, rights for the genocide survivors, Yezidi’s current situation in Sinjar, and the geo-political situation that exists in the Sinjar region, including the issues in relation to the Sinjar Agreement and the ongoing Turkish drone attacks on Yazidi survivors

K24 | US Deputy Assistant Secretary underlines need to implement Sinjar agreement| Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, Jennifer Gavito, stresses the need for the implementation of the Sinjar agreement and armed groups to be removed from Sinjar

K24 | Turkish drone attack kills SDF member in Assyrian village | “The United States is not supportive of Turkish actions in northern Iraq or northern Syria," said Douglas Hoyt, the Acting Deputy Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, at an event hosted by FYF

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Aug 26, 2022
July 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

By Pari Ibrahim | Executive Director

July 2022 - NEWS AND UPDATES

Dear friends,

Please read below for July news and updates. Thank you for your solidarity with our community as we approach the eight-year Yezidi Genocide commemoration.

TURKISH AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE

As we have reported in the past months, Turkish airstrikes continue to target Yezidis and others in northern Iraq. Several Yezidis were killed outside of Mosul this month. A few days later, dozens of civilians were killed or injured by a Turkish airstrike in a tourist area in Zakho. Iraqi authorities reacted forcefully, raising the issue in an emergency session of the UN Security Council. Turkish airstrikes continue to pose security threats to Iraqi citizens. FYF and other Yezidi activists have consistently called for Iraq and the international community to halt airstrikes in Sinjar.

FYF PARTICIPATES IN ATROCITY PREVENTION EVENT

FYF joined a high-level event on atrocity prevention at the US Institute of Peace, organized by the US Holocaust Museum and featuring a number of senior US government officials. In an off-record panel discussion with minority community members, FYF stressed the need to support civil society and discussed several matters with government stakeholders.

THE ONGOING PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

A German court this month sentenced an ISIS female member for a number of violations, including aiding and abetting genocide in reference to crimes perpetrated against Yezidis. This is only the second genocide conviction eight years after the Yezidi Genocide. FYF and other Yezidi activists and civil society organizations continue to pursue justice in all possible jurisdictions.

MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - LONDON

FYF joined a panel discussion as part of the ministerial conference on religious freedom held in London. The panel included members of parliament and leading experts. FYF highlighted the failure to prevent the Yezidi Genocide and the need to punish perpetrators.

FYF's 2021 Annual Report is now available online. Click to read inspirational stories, learn about current projects, and find more about challenges and opportunities for the Yezidi community.

STILL TIME TO REGISTER - YEZIDI GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

The Free Yezidi Foundation will be commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Yezidi Genocide by co-hosting an in-person event at our facility in Khanke, in Iraq, and also holding a virtual multi-panel event.

To participate in the virtual event on 3 August, please register. Topics and speaker for the virtual panels can be found on our website and social media platforms.

Thank you all, as always, for keeping up with our news and work, and for your steadfast support of FYF and the Yezidi community.

Sincerely,

Pari Ibrahim
Executive Director
Free Yezidi Foundation

IN THE NEWS

The Sunday Times (UK) | Kidnapped, drugged, and forced to fight: the forgotten child victims of ISIS | Eight years after ISIS killed and captured thousands of Yezidis, more than half the population are still in camps. Most forgotten of all are the Yezidi boys who were forced to join ISIS.

Toward Freedom | Yazidis in limbo as Iraqi forces and armed militants fight in northern Iraq | Amid chaos, Yazidi women can be found learning skills at the Enterprise & Training Center (ETC) run by the Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF).

The Spectator - Australia | Labor to 'rescue' ISIS brides? | This article quotes FYF regarding the crimes committed by female ISIS members.

FORB Women's Alliance | Genocide's lingering tragedy: the 8th anniversary of Yazidi sorrow | The FORB Women's Alliance includes reference to the Free Yezidi Foundation to mark the 8th year commemoration of the Yezidi Genocide.

The Catholic World Report | Women worldwide face sex-based religious persecution| At the recent International Religious Freedom Summit held in Washington, D.C., FYF joined other human rights advocates to speak about persecution of religious minorities.

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