Iraq urged to rescue over 2,000 Yazidis held by ISIS

Shafaq News/ Iraqi authorities face growing pressure to locate and recover over 2,000 Yazidis who remain missing nearly a decade after their abduction by Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. 

"Most of the [2,592] missing Yazidis are in Syria," Iraqi lawmaker Mahma Khalil told Shafaq News, warning that ISIS had changed the names of kidnapped Yazidis and erased their linguistic identity, complicating rescue efforts. Intelligence reports suggest that others have also been taken to Turkiye.

Khalil emphasized that “the government is obligated to recover kidnapped and forcibly disappeared citizens under the Iraqi constitution and law,” urging Syria’s new government to take concrete steps—not just issue statements—to release these abductees.

ISIS Background

ISIS overran Iraq’s Sinjar, the heartland of the Yazidi community, in August 2014, committing mass executions and enslaving thousands. A year later, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by the US-led Coalition, recaptured the town. By August 2017, Iraqi forces had expelled ISIS from Nineveh province and later declared victory over the group.

In July 2023, Iraqi authorities reported the discovery of 93 mass graves believed to contain Yazidi victims, with 32 still awaiting excavation in Sinjar and Baaj districts. The United Nations estimates that ISIS left behind more than 200 mass graves across Iraq, potentially holding up to 12,000 bodies.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been instrumental in efforts to rescue Yazidi captives through a program launched by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, securing the release of nearly 3,600 Yazidis as of December 2024, according to KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari.

“The Kurdistan government remains committed to freeing Yazidi captives, with 3,579 individuals rescued from a total of 6,417,” Zebari said, adding that “financial assistance has been provided to more than 3,500 Yazidis who escaped ISIS captivity.”