Hello. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to be with you today and to speak to you via video conference. I'm sorry that I was not able to attend in person. We have been very busy recently with the work we do for Yazidis and other minorities in Iraq.
I want to begin by reminding us of the situation and how we got here with the Yazidis. I know that you are familiar with the situation, but I want to remind you in terms of numbers in Iraq from 2014 until now.
When ISIS attacked the Yazidis, it was, in my opinion, a planned attack, a systematic attack, to basically eradicate Yazidis from Iraq. The number was close to half a million Yazidis, with over 400,000 Yazidis in Sinjar, the ancestral homeland of the Yazidis. When ISIS attacked, they killed close to 5,000 Yazidis in August 2014. They enslaved about 6,500 Yazidi women and children. Most of the Yazidis that were killed were elderly women who ISIS did not want to take for slavery.
As for the Yazidi women and children, the children ended up being brainwashed. A lot of them were recruited for ISIS, to fight with ISIS. Some of them are currently fighting with ISIS in Syria.
Out of these numbers, about 3,000 Yazidis, mostly children, remain in captivity. The rest are women that have been in captivity since 2014. About 350,000 Yazidis remain displaced in IDP camps in northern Iraq and the region of Kurdistan. A few thousand Yazidis are in refugee camps, both in Turkey and in Greece.
So far, I believe, we have discovered about 67 mass graves that contain the remains of Yazidis. One was discovered just two days ago in the town of Tel Azer, south of Sinjar.
In terms of the areas in Iraq being liberated from ISIS, Yazidi areas were historically neglected by the government, both by the KRG and by the Iraqi government. After 2003, the Yazidi areas were mainly under the KRG and were controlled by the Kurdistan government, and after this genocide by ISIS, Yazidi areas continue to be neglected. As Mosul and other areas have been liberated, all eyes have been on Mosul. Most of the support has been shifted to Mosul. Most of the IDPs have returned home from Mosul to Tikrit and other areas, yet the Yazidis remain in the IDP camps.
This is because of the political competition, mainly, and the unwillingness of both the KRG and the Iraqi government to rebuild the Yazidi areas and to provide security for Yazidis. Part of the reason is that Yazidis were never involved in their own security and in their own local governance. This is what led to the genocide, but after the genocide, this continued to be an issue for Yazidis.
Today, as Iraq is liberated and people have returned home, Yazidis are forced, in my opinion.... I feel that Yazidis are held captive in these IDP camps, because, first, their areas have not been rebuilt; there is no security and the access has been blocked to Sinjar. The roads that lead to Sinjar from Kurdistan, from the IDP camps, have been blocked since 2014 on and off, but since 2016 or 2017 these roads have been completely blocked.
I have been in talks with both KRG and the Iraqi government. They both blame the closure of these roads on each other. We still don't get clear answers from either side as to why these roads are blocked, but we believe mainly because it's the issue of control. As you know, these areas are disputed, and each side wants to control the area. They do not want Yazidis to be back in their homes unless either side has full control of Sinjar.
We think that the involvement, for example, of Canada, and other western governments, does not help by just providing some sort of financial support to UN programs. Even when you fund these programs, it does not end up getting to Sinjar and other areas that are disputed.
We have tried to initiate a separate program. It's called Nadia's Action Fund. We have been in talks with mainly the French government. I was trying to get material printed for you. President Macron, whom we met recently at the Paris Peace Forum, pledged to support this initiative financially and he personally launched the fund for us.
Part of this is because we want to make sure that the Yazidis are part of the solution by empowering the community. If Yazidis are not part of the governance of their own areas, the reconstruction and the security, it is not going to work having someone come from Kurdistan, Baghdad or Basra to run Yazidi areas for them.
I think the problem is that we have failed and continue to fail to involve the Yazidis, and even Christians, in governing their own areas and managing their security.
We met also with Mr. Trudeau at the Paris Peace Forum. We have urged him to take action and help with some of these issues. I know that Canada has taken some Yazidis in, mainly survivors. I raised this issue the last time when I participated in the citizenship committee. We believe that since Canada has taken these families, they should continue to relocate the rest of the family members that remain in Iraq.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the very fabric of the Yazidi community was shattered. Families have been separated. Almost every Yazidi family has either lost some members of their family or has family members in refugee camps, IDP camps, somewhere. It's very important to reunite some of these families after relocating some of the survivors.
I'm trying to keep track of the time. If I run over time, please let me know.