Yazidi women rescued eight years after ISIS kidnapping

Six women from the Yazidi minority in Iraq were recently rescued with the assistance of the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and activist Nadia Murad. Murad wrote in a statement posted online on June 3 that “after weeks of investigation, I am extremely heartened to report that we have rescued six more Yazidi women who were taken captive by ISIS.” The US Consulate in Erbil also praised the work of Murad, an activist and community leader, and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The report says that the women were kidnapped by ISIS in 2014. They were trafficked from Iraq to Syria and were rescued on Saturday. ISIS took over Mosul in Iraq nine years ago in June 2014.

At the time, the Iraqi army retreated and left Iraq’s second-largest city in the hands of the extremists. ISIS first ethnically cleansed Christians and other minorities from Mosul and then set its sights on genocide against the Yazidi minority in Sinjar.

According to a statement by Murad and her organization Nadia’s Initiative, the women who were rescued will be reunited with their families and have been flown to Erbil. “Rescuing trafficked and enslaved Yazidi women and children is an on-going humanitarian campaign – and the reunification of these six women with their families, after nearly nine years, gives us hope that more can be found.” The US Consulate tweeted “Congratulations to Nadia Murad and [the] President of the Kurdistan Region – Iraq Nechirvan Barzani’s Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yezidis: for their successful efforts to rescue six Yazidi women from the hands of ISIS and BringThemHome.”

While many Yazidis have been saved, the community continues to live in displaced persons camps and does not receive much international assistance. In addition, many of the survivors of genocide and kidnapping do not receive enough international support for their trauma.