Latest news with #VianDakhil
Iraqi News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Iraqi News
First International Yazidi Conference opens in Duhok
Duhok ( – The first International Scientific Conference on Yazidis commenced in Duhok governorate today, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Titled 'Religion, Culture, History, and Geography,' the two-day event brings together 105 researchers from 11 countries to highlight Yazidi identity, document their suffering, and correct misconceptions. However, proceedings included sharp criticism of the Iraqi government. In a seminar, Yazidi Member of Parliament Vian Dakhil decried 'continued government negligence,' stating the Yazidi cause lacks priority. She emphasized that thousands displaced from Sinjar since 2014 remain in difficult conditions in Kurdistan Region camps without lasting solutions. Dakhil demanded Baghdad implement the Sinjar Agreement with Erbil, or at minimum, facilitate IDP returns, rebuild infrastructure, and ensure security in Sinjar, arguing official inaction perpetuates Yazidi marginalization. Karwan Ajeeb of the Lalish Cultural Center confirmed the conference features seminars on Yazidi challenges, aiming to define their unique culture and counter misinformation. The event serves as both an academic platform and a spotlight on urgent humanitarian and political issues facing the community.
Shafaq News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
No pardon for genocide: Yazidi MP slams Iraq's Amnesty Law
Shafaq News/ The Yazidi community is still concerned over the country's General Amnesty Law as it could lead to the release of ISIS members involved in crimes against Yazidis, Iraqi lawmaker Vian Dakhil revealed on Tuesday. During a panel discussion on the sidelines of the First International Scientific Conference on Yazidis at the University of Duhok, Dakhil noted the Sinjar Agreement has yet to be implemented due to what she described as 'a political will in Baghdad that opposes it,' adding that 'the Yazidi file and Sinjar are not considered a priority by the federal government.' 'Yazidi lawmakers in parliament had called for the establishment of a reconstruction fund for Sinjar, but while billions of dinars were allocated to a similar fund for Dhi Qar, only a minimal amount was assigned to Sinjar,' she pointed out. The MP also indicated she had submitted a draft law to the Iraqi parliament recognizing the atrocities committed against Yazidis as genocide. Still, the legislation has not been passed, and the federal government has yet to officially recognize the events as genocide. Dakhil also expressed further concern that the recently passed amnesty law was approved despite opposition from Yazidi lawmakers. 'The law was passed based on the principle of majority imposing its will on the minority,' she said. On January 21, Iraq's Council of Representatives passed several controversial laws, including amendments to the General Amnesty Law, the Personal Status Law, and the Restitution Law. ISIS seized Sinjar and its surrounding areas—home to a predominantly Yazidi population—on August 3, 2014, committing mass killings of men and abducting more than 5,000 women and girls, many of whom were enslaved. Many survivors have been freed over the years, but many remain missing.
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.
Shafaq News
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraqi letter to Syria's Al-Sharaa on missing Yezidi women
Shafaq News/ Iraqi lawmaker Vian Dakhil issued a statement, on Thursday, urging Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa to prioritize the release of kidnapped Yazidi women held in Syrian territory. Dakhil also called on the governments of Baghdad and Erbil to engage with the new Syrian administration to push for concrete steps in addressing this issue. Dakhil asked the Syrian government to make every effort to address the plight of Yazidi women kidnapped by ISIS and to reveal their fate, particularly as large numbers of these women are still believed to be held in Syria, where they "suffered the most horrific crimes." 'This humanitarian issue cannot be delayed or ignored,' Dakhil said, calling for immediate action from the Iraqi government and official communication with the new Syrian president to press for swift, practical measures. She emphasized the need for intensified search operations, intelligence cooperation, and official channels between the Iraqi federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Syria "to achieve tangible results." Dakhil also praised the significant role played by the Yazidi abductees' rescue office and the Kurdistan Regional Government in efforts to free the women, especially when other parties had failed in their responsibilities. She stated that no new Syrian administration could ignore this humanitarian crisis, calling it "a true test of the Syrian leadership's commitment to human rights and justice." Dakhil urged the Iraqi government to prioritize this issue in its bilateral relations with Syria while coordinating with the Kurdistan Regional Government and the international community to ensure the remaining abducted Yazidis are freed and to "close this open wound in the Yazidi community." ISIS had overrun the Sinjar district in Nineveh in 2014, committing a massacre against its residents, who are primarily Yazidis. The group killed the men and abducted the women and girls. Since then, periodic announcements have been made about the release of Yazidi women, some of whom were taken to the Al-Hol camp or other areas in Syria.
