A Decade of Sorrow: The Yazidi Genocide in 2024

A candlelit memorial shines for the victims of the Islamic State's 2014 genocide against the Yazidi people, August 3rd, 2024 (from Shafaq News)

Today, the Yazidi Genocide Archive commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide. On August 3rd, 2014, the Islamic State jihadist group invaded the Sinjar and Sheikhan regions of Northern Iraq. They rounded up Yazidi men, women, and children, subjecting each group to different atrocities. They ordered the men to convert to Islam or die, executing those who refused and even some who converted. IS fighters abducted the women and girls, selling them into sexual slavery. And they kidnapped the boys, sending them to training camps and teaching them to become jihadists. The genocide ruptured the Yazidi community, leaving between 5,000 and 11,000 people killed or captured and hundreds of thousands displaced. The Islamic State’s campaign against the Yazidis continued until 2017, when they were driven from Yazidi areas by Iraqi, Kurdish, and Yazidi forces.

Ten years after August 3rd, the situation for Yazidis in Iraq and Kurdistan has not improved. Approximately 2,700 women and children are still held captive, and about 200,000 people reside in displaced persons camps. Most are unable to return to their villages that were destroyed during the Islamic State’s onslaught. As a result, many people feel hopeless and have turned to heavy drug use or committed suicide. To make matters worse, the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have shown no commitment to rebuilding Yazidi towns or offering compensation to survivors. And, anti-Yazidi sentiment has remained strong among Iraqi and Kurdish Muslims. Violence against Yazidis living in refugee camps and villages has flared frequently over the past decade, especially in May 2023.

To say that Yazidis in Iraq and Kurdistan are suffering right now would be an understatement. The community’s future in these countries remains precarious, as the consequences of the genocide remain unaddressed. Thankfully, multiple Yazidi-led nonprofits, such as Yazda, Free Yezidi Foundation, and Nadia’s Initiative, have dedicated themselves to providing aid and funds for refugees and survivors, urging governments and humanitarian organizations to act to improve their people’s lives, and promoting knowledge about their community’s history, culture, and religion. Additionally, non-Yazidi-led organizations, such as Yahad - In Unum, are committed to raising awareness about the 2014 genocide to the wider world through education, research, and dialogue. The Yazidi Genocide Archive is part of this broader effort to achieve Yazidi freedom from genocide, degradation, and hopelessness by preserving survivors’ testimonies, scholarly expertise, and primary sources. By supporting and sharing the work of these organizations, you can do your part to ensure that the next ten years will be better for the Yazidis than the last.