Yes, we concentrated on the region of Dohuk in northern Iraq to start with. A lot of people said, “Well, you can't help everyone. Why do you help these people?” We thought that the right thing to do was not to look at those people we can't help but to look at the people we can help. Those women, girls, and boys we are able to help. From the start it was clear that we only had a certain amount, 1,000, and later 1,100. We decided to go on a clear basis such that every case had to be evaluated.
The people were referred to us by the Kurdish government, by NGOs, and by churches. We had a form they had to fill out in order to refer them to us. When we saw that people might be eligible, then they were invited to a psychological evaluation by our trauma psychologist, Professor Kizilhan. It's true, yes, we made the decision as a three-person team because it was very important that we saw the people, that we were actually there, so it was clear who was making the decision. In the region there are a lot of rumours. Even now, for example, people are trying to get money when they say, “You can buy a visa to Germany or Canada”, so it's very important to have a clear proceeding. People knew that only these three Germans would make the decision, and they would do it based only on the evaluation and the personal contact. If we had any doubts about any cases, we had the chance to access the Kurdish government, for example, to check if people really belonged to the village of Kocho or whatever.
Finally, besides the regional government, of course, we had to speak with the federal government in Iraq, with Baghdad, for the air space. They allowed our planes to land there. Of course, we approached the high council of the Yazidis in Lalish. They gave their consent, too, and that was very important. These were our three main partners: the Kurdish regional government, the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad, and the high council of the Yazidis. Every one of them gave their consent, and so we were able to proceed.