For Immediate Release: Letter from Nadia Murad and Yazda on Parliamentry Motion on Yazidis

Dear Members of Parliament,

I am honoured to write to you today. It is my understanding that on October 25th, 2016 there will be a vote to recognize the Yazidi Genocide and support receiving Yazidi women, girls and children who become victims of ISIS sexual enslavement. I am currently in Ottawa to witness the vote and to meet with Members of Parliament.

Supporting the vote on October 25th is personally important to me as a girl who found herself hopeless in the hands of terrorists. Your support for the motion would be a positive message to my people who live with the genocide every day.

The Yazidis need the support of Canada. More than 350,000 people now live in refugee camps across Iraq, Greece, Syria, and Turkey. This number constitutes more than 80 percent of the entire Yazidi population. Every refugee lives in difficult conditions. But for the women and girls who were subjected to systematic rape and torture at the hands of ISIS, the situation is even more dire. In the refugee camps, they are not provided any special care which would help them recover. They live in poverty without access to health care or psychological support.

Germany is the only country in the world that has offered a new life to 1,100 women and children. I am one of those women. I will be forever grateful to Germany for this step. The Yazidis you help through this motion will in turn be forever grateful to you and to Canada.

It is not possible to turn away from the crimes ISIS has committed against the Yazidis. The United Nations officially recognized it as genocide. The government of Canada, along with the UN, European Union, the UK, and the US, have all recognized our case. By supporting this measure, you are sending a powerful message to Yazidis and victims of terrorism everywhere that you feel their pain and recognize their suffering. To ISIS, you are sending the message that their crimes will not go unnoticed by the rest of the world.

From the bottom of my heart, I ask you to help. At this time, the most immediate way you can help us is by agreeing on this bipartisan motion which will recognize the genocide and support the relocation of less than 2,000 Yazidis – women and girls who survived enslavement, and their families. Our people have been nearly destroyed by ISIS. We have no choice but to ask countries like Canada to help us, countries that have the compassion to understand the cries of the persecuted.

We, Yazidis and victims of ISIS, look to you to give new hope to the hopeless.

Within each person is infinite possibility for good, even amidst the tragedy I’ve witnessed. I know this. From the ashes of this war, our people will respond to your help with unending gratitude and generosity.

All we want is to live in peace. I have called on the international community to give us that right. Canada is a beautiful place, filled with open minded, thoughtful, and compassionate people. Please rise to this reputation by voting for the proposed motion.

Yours sincerely,

Nadia MuradYazidi Survivor of Genocide and Human Trafficking UN Goodwill Ambassadorinfo@nadiamurad.org