Three years after the Iraqi town of Sinjar was recaptured from Islamic State group, the Yazidis have begun to return. The town is in ruins and the population has largely been left to its own devices. The Norwegian Refugee Council is the only international humanitarian organisation with a permanent presence in the town.
“Unlike other places in Iraq, which are slowly but surely being rebuilt, there has still been no progress in Sinjar,” says Tom Peyre-Costa, NRC’s media coordinator in Iraq. He fears that the world is starting to forget the Yazidis.
Genocide
On 3 August 2014, IS group attacked the Yazidis in the Sinjar District in northern Iraq. Thousands were abducted or killed, and nearly a hundred thousand people fled up into the Sinjar Mountains to escape. The United Nations has referred to the IS group attacks on the Yazidis as genocide.
About 70 per cent of the buildings in Sinjar were damaged or destroyed during operations to retake the town. Large parts of the town remain uninhabitable, and today, Sinjar is like a ghost town, with no water, only one school and no hospitals.
“Around 6,000 families have now returned to the region, but most Yazidis feel safer in the camps. Those who have returned home are living under extremely miserable conditions. Pregnant women have died because of lack of health care,” says Peyre-Costa.
“We need schools, we need everything”
The streets are empty. Large parts of the town are in ruins. The infrastructure has been destroyed and people lack the most basic necessities, such as water and electricity. There is an immediate need to rebuild schools and hospitals.
NRC is working together with the local community
Peyre-Costa reports that there are several humanitarian organisations operating in Sinjar, but that NRC has a permanent presence, with an office staffed by employees who live and work in the town daily.
“We have just opened a community centre in the town centre, where we will be supporting young people with vocational training, so they can have the opportunity to find a job. We will also try to coordinate and strengthen the relief effort. In addition, we offer office space to other humanitarian organisations, such as CARE, which is about to open a much-needed health clinic.
Continuing relief work in the camps
NRC will continue its relief work in the camps that host many displaced Yazidis in Iraq.
“We will continue to help parents and children in the camps. Many children have been traumatised and are in need of psychosocial help. We have teachers and therapists who follow up the children at school and in their free time.
Many teenagers are also struggling with trauma. Some have lost several years of schooling.
“We also offer education and vocational training for teenagers and adults.”
Many need help in obtaining documents
Many of the Yazidis who fled Sinjar have lost both identity papers and property ownership documentation. NRC is helping them obtain the necessary paperwork.
“The latter is especially important as they return home to rebuild their homes and their lives,” explains Peyre-Costa.
“We must not forget the Yazidis now”
He believes that it is time for the international community to wake up and show a willingness to invest in reconstruction and secure peace and stability in the area.
“The Yazidis, who have lived through the worst atrocities committed by IS group, are now suffering from a lack of international support, and they are starting to be forgotten. Now is the time for action, so that more people can have the opportunity to return home.”
NRC also believes that the Iraqi authorities must take on a more active role and support the different communities in the area, so that they can rebuild Sinjar together.
“It’s not too much to expect the international community to spend as much money on the rebuilding of Sinjar as it used in the fight against IS group,” he concludes.