10th Anniversary Survivor Stories: Jawahir

“I wonder if the world has forgotten my loved ones. As a survivor myself, I cannot forget. I feel their suffering every single day.”

Our childhood dreams were simple, and similar to the hopes of children around the world: to spend joyful moments with our families. But starting in 2014, ISIS deprived us of that dream, instead subjecting us to unimaginable hardship and stealing our happiness.

I never imagined the ISIS genocide against our people, and its aftermath, would feel this way.

For a long time after I survived, I held hope that those who remained in captivity—our fathers, brothers, mothers, and sisters—would also endure, or that at very least their remains would be returned to us for proper burials.

Yet ten years later, the bones of our beloved still rest in the ground, waiting to be exhumed.

Some family members remain in ISIS captivity. And we still do not know the fate of others – like my brothers and uncle – who to this day remain unaccounted for.

I wonder if the world has forgotten my loved ones. As a survivor myself, I cannot forget. I feel their suffering every single day.

With remains returned, identities verified, and others rescued from captivity, we would once again have some peace of mind. Otherwise, I worry true peace may never come back to my family.

In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide, Nadia’s Initiative is sharing a series of survivor stories to highlight the impact of the genocide at an individual level. While these stories are harrowing, they shine a light on the incredible resilience of survivors.