Latest news with #2020SinjarAgreement
Shafaq News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq renews pledge of justice for Yazidi genocide survivors
Shafaq News – Baghdad On the 11th anniversary of the Sinjar massacre, Iraq's Foreign Ministry renewed its appeal for international recognition of the 2014 ISIS campaign against the Yazidi community as 'genocide and crimes against humanity.' In a statement on Sunday, the ministry marked August 3 with 'deep sorrow,' denouncing the mass killings, abductions, and enslavement of Yazidis and other minorities. Over a decade later, nearly 2,600 Yazidi women and girls remain missing, while recovery teams continue to exhume and identify remains from mass graves scattered across Sinjar and surrounding areas. — وزارة الخارجية العراقية (@Iraqimofa) August 3, 2025 The ministry reaffirmed Iraq's commitment to locating the missing, supporting survivors, and implementing the Yazidi Survivors Law—enacted in 2021 to provide legal status and state support for women held by ISIS, including financial aid, mental health services, social reintegration, and prosecution of those responsible—while its embassies continue to advocate for justice and formal international recognition. It also urged stronger international coordination to help trace abductees, prevent further abuses, and strengthen recovery through long-term partnerships with humanitarian groups and governments. In turn, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Shakhwan Abdullah described the massacre as 'one of the most horrific crimes in recent history,' demanding full enforcement of the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, which aims to remove unauthorized armed groups and restore government control in the area. He called for urgent reconstruction of Sinjar, financial compensation for survivors, and guarantees for the safe, voluntary return of displaced Yazidi families.
Shafaq News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
President Barzani demands full implementation of Sinjar agreement
Shafaq News – Erbil On Sunday, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani called on the Iraqi government to remove all armed factions from Sinjar, warning that their presence continues to block stability and reconstruction efforts in the Yazidi-majority district. Marking the 11th anniversary of the ISIS massacre in Sinjar, Barzani described the 2014 attack as a 'heinous crime,' reaffirming the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s commitment to supporting the Yazidi community. 'Nearly half of the Yazidi population is still living in camps under severe economic, social, and psychological conditions,' Barzani stated, urging Baghdad to take stronger action to compensate Yazidi families and prevent Sinjar from remaining 'a stronghold for militias and regional power struggles.' ئه‌مڕۆ يادى به‌ئازارى يازده ساڵه‌ى جينۆسايدى ئێزدييان ده‌كه‌ينه‌وه و به ڕێز و وه‌فادارييه‌وه قوربانييانى ئه‌و تاوانكارييه‌ى داعش، به‌بير ده‌هێنينه‌وه. پابه‌ندى پێشكه‌شكردنى هه‌موو پشتگيرييه‌كين بۆ هاووڵاتييانى ئێزديمان و وێڕاى هه‌موو ئازاره‌كانى ڕابردوو، به ئومێده‌وه له… — Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) August 3, 2025 Calling for the full implementation of the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, which aims to restore local governance, bolster security, and enable the return of displaced residents, Barzani pressed for the restoration of services, justice for victims, and accountability for those responsible for the 2014 atrocities. He also thanked the Global Coalition for its role in defeating ISIS, underlining the KRG 's ongoing commitment to the Yazidis. 'We will not stop working to free the kidnapped and uncover the fate of the missing,' he concluded. The August 2014 ISIS offensive on Sinjar resulted in mass executions, abductions, and the enslavement of thousands of Yazidis. Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the district in late 2015, and two years later, Iraqi forces declared the full liberation of Nineveh and the defeat of ISIS. More than a decade later, many Yazidi families are still searching for missing relatives. As of August 2025, official figures estimate that nearly 2,600 women and girls remain unaccounted for. Recovery efforts are ongoing, with authorities continuing to exhume and identify remains from mass graves scattered across the region. According to United Nations estimates, ISIS left behind more than 200 mass graves in Iraq, believed to contain up to 12,000 victims.
Shafaq News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Duhok hosts 1st international conference on Yazidi identity and heritage
Shafaq News/ The first International Scientific Conference on the Yazidis opened in Duhok on Tuesday, bringing together 105 researchers from 11 countries to explore Yazidi religion, culture, history, and geography. Organized under the banner 'Religion, Culture, History, and Geography,' the two-day conference aims to highlight Yazidi identity, document the suffering endured by the minority, and address widespread misconceptions about the faith and its followers. 'This is an important opportunity to correct misunderstandings and shine a light on a community that has long been marginalized,' Karwan Ajib, media official at the Lalish Cultural Center, told Shafaq News. He said the agenda includes a series of academic sessions on the historical and current challenges facing the Yazidi community. Speaking during a panel on the sidelines of the event, Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil criticized what she described as the government's ongoing neglect of the Yazidi cause, accusing authorities in Baghdad of failing to prioritize their plight. 'Thousands of displaced Yazidis from Sinjar have remained in camps across the Kurdistan Region since 2014 and are living under dire humanitarian conditions, with no durable solutions in sight,' Dakhil said. She called on the federal government to either implement the 2020 Sinjar Agreement signed between Baghdad and Erbil, or at a minimum, facilitate the return of displaced families, rebuild critical infrastructure, and ensure stability and security in the area. 'The lack of official attention only deepens the marginalization of the Yazidi community and prolongs its suffering,' she added. The Yazidis, an ethnoreligious minority primarily based in Iraq's Nineveh province, were targeted by the ISIS group in 2014 in what the United Nations later recognized as a genocide. Thousands were killed, enslaved, or forced to flee their ancestral lands.
