Sema
An Ezidi man who had been held captive by ISIS for over a decade was reunited with his family in Duhok on Sunday, after being located in Syria—thanks to the efforts of the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Rawand N.H., originally from Shingal in northern Iraq, was among thousands of Ezidis kidnapped by ISIS during the group’s brutal campaign in 2014. After nearly 11 years, he was found in Syria and brought back home, where his family welcomed him with open arms.
“I have never experienced this kind of happiness before,” Rawand told Sema, overwhelmed with emotion as he embraced his family.
He shared that most of his years in captivity were spent in Raqqa and its surrounding areas in Syria. Due to the long period of isolation and forced assimilation, Rawand is no longer able to speak Kurdish—his mother tongue—and now speaks only Arabic.
His uncle, Haji Hame, expressed deep gratitude to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and the Office for Rescuing Abducted Ezidis, which operates under the Presidency and had contacted the family about Rawand’s whereabouts a month earlier.
“We had already declared all eight members of the family as martyrs. Thankfully, Rawand came back alive,” Haji Hame told Rudaw during the emotional reunion in the Batifa area of Duhok.
With no surviving immediate family members, Rawand will now live with his uncle.
Haji Hame also revealed that 77 members of Rawand’s extended family were abducted when ISIS attacked Shingal in 2014. Of those, 39 are still missing.
During the assault on Shingal, ISIS kidnapped 6,417 Ezidi women and children, subjecting many to sexual slavery, forced labor, and years of horrific abuse. Though ISIS lost its territorial control in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, its legacy of terror still lingers.
As of today, around 2,600 Ezidis remain missing, according to official figures from the Office of Rescuing Abducted Ezidis.