In recent days, five Yazidi women and a 13-year-old Yazidi girl were released from ISIS captivity. However, out of the 6,417 Yazidis that ISIS abducted, 2,992 of them remain missing and are believed to be enslaved across the Middle East. Further, the Yazidis living in Iraq and Syria today continue to suffer from grave human rights abuses despite pledges made by the international community to never again permit such atrocities. And as US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Syria draws near, the Yazidis are increasingly in danger, even though the community of nations has a moral obligation to help them recover from the genocide they suffered at the hands of ISIS.
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Yazidi leader Sheikh Mirza Ismail, chairman of the Yazidi International Human Rights Organization, reports that "according to our information, there are hundreds of Yazidi slaves being held by their ISIS captors who are now being cared for in camps run by the UN and local governments." He says that he went to the UN and pleaded for their help but so far, no help has arrived: "All Muslim groups have been helped but not the non-Muslim ones, who are the greatest victims and are suffering from genocide."
According to a local report, one such Yazidi slave was recently able to make contact with her family and tell them: "I just grabbed their phone. I don't know where I am. I can't get out."
Though many in the West argue that the struggle against ISIS is over, this young girl is still being imprisoned by ISIS somewhere in Iraq under the protection of local Muslims. And apparently, the threat from ISIS is still considered significant enough that it recently prompted Iraqi forces to launch a new fresh operation against the group.
Ismail emphasizes that ISIS is still being welcomed in Turkey and other Muslim communities: "We know of at least two refugee camps which welcomed and are supporting ISIS families. One is built to accommodate about 20,000 refugees and since March, the population has swelled to about 80,000 people. The population is mainly consisting of ISIS families. We know of another UN refugee camp in Syria. It used to have a population mainly of Yazidis."
But now, ISIS has been welcomed into the camp and the Yazidis are trying to flee. They are being abused by local Muslims. This camp is now populated mainly by ISIS families and the few Yazidis who are remaining.
Meanwhile, in Syria, a video documents Arabs setting fire to Yazidi crops. Similar fires targeting Yazidi crops were started in Mount Sinjar and the local forces not only did nothing to stop the massive fires but prevented help from arriving. As a result, the Yazidis were forced to battle the fires themselves and some were burned to death. An estimated 100,000 dunams (25,000 acres) of Yazidi crops were burned in Mount Sinjar alone. Standing in front of the destroyed fields, a Yazidi spokesman explained that by sitting back and doing nothing, the world has allowed the enslavement and destruction of the Yazidi people and their lands by jihadists who identify with and support ISIS.
"Yazidis have lived in this area since the time of Noah's Ark," Ismail said. "This is the oldest place on the planet. Throughout these long centuries, they were always able to protect themselves and to also help their neighbors. But now, after the genocide, there are no soldiers, no protection for the land and often not a crust of bread."
And when the US withdraws from Syria, Yazidi Rescue Committee Executive Director Geoffrey Clarfield fears that the Turks may enter and this will lead to severe human rights abuses against the Yazidis, as demonstrated by the atrocities committed against Yazidis in the Afrin region.
According to Renanah Gemeiner, the co-founder of Canadian Jews and Friends of Yazidis, a 14-year-old Yazidi boy who was kidnapped by ISIS was smuggled into Turkey together with 11 other Yazidis. She reports that Turkey has become a safe haven for ISIS families seeking to escape justice. Ismail warns that after the withdrawal of US forces, given the threat of a Turkish invasion, "the Yazidis will be even more vulnerable than they are today."
In the wake of these developments, the United States has a moral obligation to stay in Syria and Iraq until ISIS no longer poses any sort of threat and Turkey abandons its regional ambitions. The US owes this to its allies who sacrificed their lives fighting against the murderous terrorist organization. Washington is indebted to the region's minorities, who are waiting for a policy of "never again" to truly be implemented. And this is also a direct US interest; if ISIS regains its foothold in the Middle East, it will soon be targeting Americans closer to home.
In February, a draft Pentagon report warned that without continued pressure, ISIS could regain territory in six to 12 months. According to the report, ISIS still had strength in rural Iraq and maintained a decentralized insurgency in Syria. This remains the case.
How can anyone claim that the war against ISIS is over?
Elie Wiesel once said, "There may be times when we fail to prevent injustice but there never must be a time when we fail to protest." Americans must protest their government's abandonment of the Yazidis at such a critical hour.
