Nadia's Initiative and French Ambassador Philippe Étienne Host Commemoration of 7th Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide
On July 27, Nadia’s Initiative and French Ambassador Etienne co-hosted a reception to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide and push for strong policy that protects against persecution and builds systems that empower survivors. USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke in support of justice for the Yazidi community. The event was attended by US congresspeople, State Department officials, foreign ambassadors, and more.
Sustained action is needed to deliver meaningful justice - both by holding ISIS accountable for their crimes and empowering the community to preserve their heritage and restore their homeland. ISIS tried to erase the future of Yazidism; we defeat them by building a brighter future than ever before.
We must commit to the Yazidi people and their right to live in peace, safety, and dignity.
Read Nadia’s remarks below:
For the international community, remembering the Yazidi Genocide may be abstract. ISIS’ violence feels far away both in time and geography. Human lives are compressed into statistics: over 400,000 displaced, more than 5,000 killed, and over 6,000 enslaved. I am here to show you that there are people behind those statistics.
Starting on August 3rd, 2014, Yazidi communities throughout the region of Sinjar, Iraq were invaded and slowly torn apart. The atrocities are shocking no matter how many times you recount them. Men and older women were murdered and dumped in mass graves. Women and girls - like me, my nieces, and sisters - were sold and raped. Young boys were turned into soldiers and forced into war.
But the genocide itself was not a surprise. ISIS gave the world a warning. They made their intention to persecute Yazidis clear. Having lived through centuries of persecution for our faith, my community knew that ISIS’ threats had to be taken seriously. Yazidis gave up everything they had worked for - their homes and their livelihoods - in order to flee. They valued their lives and their faith over their possessions. But the world did not even value our basic human rights. And sadly, not everyone had the chance to escape.
I am still not convinced that genocide was inevitable. There were 12 days between the first attacks against Yazidis and the day that my village, Kocho, was invaded. 12 days when the armies that vowed to protect us fled. 12 days that the governments in Baghdad and Erbil turned away from their citizens. 12 days when the international community ignored our cries for help. Still, we did not give up faith. I will never forget how my brothers’ eyes shone with hope that someone would come save our village. That hope was extinguished by bullets.
In a minute, we will display a video created by UNITAD that shows the atrocities that took place in Kocho. It details ISIS’ crimes, but it also gives you a window into my community and our way of life. Yazidis worked for generations to build a simple life in our remote villages. All of that was taken away. My mother, brothers, and sisters were innocent, hardworking people. They did not deserve their fate.
Seven years later, my community is still waiting for help. There has been sympathy and aid, but not nearly enough tangible support to help the community recover and rebuild. Today, the community is splintered, physically and psychologically.
Hundreds of thousands of Yazidis are still internally displaced in Northern Iraq. Yazidis cannot mend our communal bonds or preserve our culture and religion in the undignified living conditions of camps. And there is no opportunity to move forward when the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government do not support our return home or the reconstruction of Sinjar. There is no chance to heal when Iraq and the international community do not hold ISIS accountable for their crimes.
As a Yazidi, a woman, and a survivor, it is not easy for me to share my story. But, despite everything I have experienced - losing my family and my home, being enslaved and displaced - I have not given up. I will not give in to ISIS’ goal of destroying me and my people. I have tried to share the truth of what happened, so the world does not forget. I am just one survivor. There are thousands of Yazidis who are just as determined to defeat ISIS’ ideology of hatred, fight for justice, rebuild their lives, and leave a safer world for their children.
I see my work and the work of Nadia’s Initiative as an existential fight for the survival of my people. But it is also a fight for all of humanity to prevent genocide against other at-risk communities. It is a call to the global community to not stand idly by as genocide and sexual violence take place.
ISIS targeted my family and me simply because we were Yazidis. Because our identity and our faith were different from theirs. I ask you to support my community not because Yazidis are special, but because we are the same. We are human, and we deserve justice.