After more than 8 years of being displaced in the Kurdistan region, the Yezidis are desperate. The aid and other support from both the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments, as well as from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the refugee camps in Kurdistan, has now stopped. With winter right around the corner, the refugees are being left without any help.
After the war escalated in Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, almost all the non-governmental organizations withdrew their funding. They left the refugee camps in order to go and support the Ukrainians. Of course, we are not blaming the NGOs that support Ukraine, but rather want to shed light on the ongoing challenges of the Yezidi refugees, and their severe need for continuous support. Their areas are not yet rebuilt, and they still can’t return to their homes in Sinjar.
The responsibility for this crisis lies squarely with the Iraqi government for not having solved the issues of the Yezidi refugees’ return to Sinjar, even 7 years after the liberation of their area. While all the damaged and destroyed areas in other parts of Iraq are being renovated and rebuilt by the government, the Yezidi area remains destroyed.
