Continuing on the work on the topic “Life After Genocide”, journalist and researcher Vicken Cheterian and myself decided to go back and revisit Iraq. Our work started 7 years ago when visiting minorities and tried to understand a little better how living through war and genocide affected the population while ISIS created horror on their lives. We focused our work on the Yazidi population as well as Christian communities from Iraq and the nearby region.
"On that day, in the early hours of August 3, 2014, ISIS fighters armed with heavy weapons after they conquered Mosul two months earlier, coming from Ba’aj attacked the Yazidi villages of Girzarek and Siba Sheikh Khidir. Peshmerga forces received orders from Erbil and withdrew. They did not evacuate the Yazidi civilian population, leaving them defenceless, at the mercy of ISIS. Local Yazidi resistance armed with light weapons collapsed after four hours; they did not have enough ammunition, nor heavy arms to resists against jihadi armored vehicles. In a few hours ISIS entered the town of Sinjar. The local population in panic escaped to the mountain. ISIS captured those who could not escape: men were forced to convert to Islam; those who refused were killed on the spot. More than 35 mass graves have been found this far. ISIS revived open sex slave markets, a tradition that had disappeared from the region since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Over 5240 women and girls were captured and sold as slaves." Vicken Cheterian July 2016.
This page will be updated over the next several weeks with short stories on people we met.
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| Yazidi Children and their families are still, 9 years after ISIS invaded them on April 3rd 2014, living in temporary, random camps in the region around Sinjar. As they are not allowed to make solid constructions, they live mostly in tents made of plastic. |
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| Many of the Yazidi children living in random camps have never known anything but the temporary location they are staying at. |
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| Despite the ban on making permeant buildings, the Yazidi community has established shops and basic services like this barber shop. |
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| Football seems to have a uniting effect on everyone, everywhere, also amongst the young Yazidi kids playing near the city of Dahok. |
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| The Yazidi culture is very conservative, the the holiest place for them is the temple in Lalish where all Yazidi should at least once visit. |
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| Lalish is the holiest place for the Yazidi people. During the month of April, families will make visits to Lalish, spend time, have picnic, as well as contribute with keeping the place well maintained and welcoming. |
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| Lalish is the holiest place for the Yazidi people. It is located in the northern part of Iraq and dates back some 4000 years. All Yazidi are expected to at least once make a six day pilgrimage to to visit the tomb of Şêx Adî located in a cave within the Lalish temple. |
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| Lalish is the holiest place for the Yazidi people and the location dates back some 4000 years. All Yazidi are expected to at least once make a six day pilgrimage to to visit the tomb of Şêx Adî located in a cave within the Lalish temple where, according to the Yazidi, the first human was born. |
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| Yazidi families dress up in traditional clothing and spend time together while also visiting the holy locations within the Yazidi temple in Lalish. |
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| Roan is originally from Syria but is currently staying in a building right by the marked in the old town of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The owner of the building is letting Assyrian Christians stay on a modest rent. Roan stays with her father, Bady, and aunt as well as their dog, Bella. |
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| Tourists are visiting the The Erbil Citadel, locally called Qelat is the historical city centre of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. In the background is the building being let to around 90 displaced Christian, Assyrian, families mostly from Iraq and Syria right by the old marked. |
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| Children play with a balloon near their home, which is a temporarily set up refuge camp, which seems permanent. These kids have never known any other home. Yazidi survivors of the genocide against them 9 years ago have been living in random camps set up near the official "Camp Khanki", not too far from Dahuk, Kurdistan region in Iraq. |
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| People who has stayed in the temporary camp area has started small businesses. Here, dinner was secured for one family. |
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| A father brings his daughter to Lalish, the holiest place for the Yazidi community. |
