Wagga’s Yazidis plead for international aid for those left behind

Known as the ‘Black Day’, it was when ISIS attacked Shingal in Iraq and murdered more than 5000 people.

Eevet Hasan,15, said the older men and women were killed, while the young ones were ripped away from their homes. 

“ISIS were teaching young Yazidi boys how to use weapons, to kill ISIS' enemies,” she said. 

“They were taking the Yazidi girls for themselves and selling them to each other. 

“There are about 3000 Yazidi people imprisoned at the hands of ISIS and one of them is my grandmother.” 

Evet said not many people know who the Yazidi are because they have been the victims of 74 genocides and most of their friends and families died or were kidnapped and tortured. 

“Yazidi people are killed just because their religion is different,” she said. 

“There are about 50 Yazidi families here in Wagga.

“We meet here together to let people know what happened to us and tell everyone our story in the hope our kidnapped people in Iraq can be helped.

“Yazidi people believe in peace.” 

Zaid Kharmsh said during the genocide ISIS committed mass murders, forced conversions, enslavement and rape. 

“Many women and girls were then forced into sexual slavery and sold as slaves in slave markets,” he said.

“Thousands of Yazidis are still in captivity or missing and over 30 mass graves have been found in the Sinjar region, however without help from international actors the remains have not been able to be identified or kept safe.”

Mr Kharmsh told the story of those who tried to escape, but were trapped in the mountains for over a week. 

”People rationed their water by sipping one lidful at a time,” he said. 

“Many people fled through North Iraq, while others lived in the mountains for several years, unable to return to their villages safely.”

Mr Kharmsh pleaded for international aid to assist those still fighting for their lives. 

“Australia have officially recognised the ISIS attack on the Yazidi’s on August 3, 2014, as genocide, yet Yazidi people are still fighting for their human rights, for increased awareness of the genocide that has occurred, and for help for the thousands of Yazidi families who are still missing loved ones,” he said. 

“There are still over one million Yazidi people, now living all over the world, often as refugees.

“Hundreds of thousands of Yazidi people are displaced. We hope by talking about this we can stop this from happening to other people in the future.”