Sema
“President Masoud Barzani insisted that the Yazidi name must be explicitly included. He said: ‘I will not accept a constitution without the Yazidis mentioned,’” she recalled.
At the First International Scientific Conference on Yezidi Identity and Heritage—held in Duhok under the theme of religion, culture, history, and geography—Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) MP and prominent Yazidi voice Vian Dakhil strongly criticized the Iraqi government’s continued neglect of the Yazidi community.
“In Parliament, Yazidis are treated as invisible. Our issues are seen as irrelevant,” Dakhil said during her speech. Reflecting on the time before the 2014 genocide by ISIS, she shared a striking memory: “When I said I was Yazidi in Parliament, many MPs didn’t even know who the Yazidis were. They asked me, ‘What is a Yazidi?’”
Dakhil underscored that while the 2014 genocide pushed Yazidis into the international spotlight, the Iraqi government has taken few steps to deliver justice or restore Yazidi life. “Recognition means nothing if it’s not followed by action,” she said. “What matters is what rights you have granted Yazidis as a government and a state.”
Barzani’s Stand for Yazidi Identity
She praised President Masoud Barzani’s leadership during the drafting of Iraq’s 2005 constitution, highlighting his insistence that Yazidis be explicitly mentioned. “President Barzani said clearly: ‘I won’t accept a constitution unless Yazidis are included,’” Dakhil recalled. That recognition, she added, remains a key foundation for Yazidi identity within Iraq.
Years of Broken Promises
Dakhil criticized successive Iraqi governments for making promises to the Yazidis but failing to act, particularly after the genocide. “Over 400,000 Yazidis were displaced from Sinjar,” she said. “We’ve asked questions in Baghdad over and over, but we’ve received nothing in return—no solutions, no justice.”
Eleven years later, she noted, tens of thousands of Yazidis still live in camps under difficult conditions. “Summer or winter, our people are still suffering in tents,” she added.
Urgent Need to Implement the Sinjar Agreement
Calling for urgent action, Dakhil demanded the full implementation of the 2020 Sinjar Agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. “It’s been signed. Now it needs to be enforced—restore homes, guarantee security, and help displaced families return,” she stressed. “But Baghdad continues to push our case aside.”
A Forgotten Genocide
The Yazidis, an indigenous ethnoreligious group from the Sinjar region, endured a horrific genocide in August 2014 when ISIS militants overran their homeland. Thousands were killed, women and girls were taken into slavery, and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee. Although the genocide has been recognized internationally, Yazidi demands for resettlement, justice, and reconstruction remain unmet due to unresolved disputes over Sinjar involving Baghdad, the KRG, and armed groups such as the PMF and the PKK.
Vian Dakhil, known worldwide for her emotional 2014 plea in the Iraqi Parliament that exposed the Yazidi tragedy, remains a tireless advocate for the rights and dignity of her people.