Sema
The Directorate of Migration, Displacement, and Crisis Response in Duhok has announced that essential services are still lacking in the region, pointing to the Iraqi government’s indifference in dealing with the situation in Shingal (Sinjar). Displaced Ezidis have not yet returned to their homes, which is expected to worsen conditions in the camps and increase the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), while at the same time, humanitarian aid continues to decrease.
Berdian Jaafar, Director of the Directorate in Duhok, stated:
“In Duhok governorate, there are 15 camps housing Ezidi IDPs, which accommodate approximately 20,830 families. In addition, more than 35,000 Ezidi families live outside the camps, bringing the total number of displaced persons from Sinjar to around 280,000. For context, in the past two years, more than 800 families returned to Sinjar but had to come back to the camps due to lack of electricity, food, and safety in the region.”
He added:
“So far, neither the Iraqi government nor the international community has taken the necessary steps for Sinjar. They have failed to adequately support the victims, and security in the area remains unstable. The assistance provided by the Iraqi government has been minimal — it was only distributed for seven months out of twelve last year, and only twice so far this year. This clearly shows that the Iraqi government is treating the issue as a political matter.”
Jaafar further explained:
“Iraq’s government decided last year that by July 31, 2024, no Ezidi displacement camps would remain and all IDPs would be returned to their homes. Each family was to receive four million Iraqi dinars as support, but this decision was never implemented. Only 6,000 people registered to return to Sinjar last year, and just 3,000 were actually relocated, which made the rest of the IDPs feel uncertain and unsafe about returning.”
He continued:
“In order to accelerate the return process, we submitted several proposals to the Prime Minister’s Office, requesting that each family be provided with 20 million dinars to facilitate their return. We also recommended that displaced people living outside camps be officially resettled and that a comprehensive registration process for all IDPs be carried out — but we have yet to receive a response.”
It’s worth noting that on August 3, 2014, ISIS launched a brutal attack on the Sinjar district, committing one of the most horrific crimes of the modern era.
Even after all these years, the numbers tell the scale of the tragedy:
- 6,417 Ezidis were kidnapped by ISIS
- 3,562 were rescued
- The fate of 2,827 remains unknown
- The genocide left behind 2,745 orphaned children
- So far, 83 mass graves have been discovered
- 68 Ezidi religious sites and shrines were destroyed