This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On August 3, 2014, the Islamic State group launched a brutal assault on Mount Sinjar, slaughtering thousands of Yazidi men and boys and abducting girls to be used as 'sex slaves.'
Speaking in Stuttgart, Germany, at the invitation of the country's central Yazidi council, Nadia Murad, a prominent Yazidi activist, highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by her community. She noted that while over 90,000 Yazidis have already returned to Sinjar, more need to return to thwart the IS's plan to chase them out.
Murad emphasized the need for the restoration of public services, including schools and hospitals, in the region. She also called for compensation for Yazidi survivors of the IS, pointing out that the Kurdish and Iraqi authorities have done nothing for them so far.
According to Murad, the authorities have awarded some Yazidis a one-off payment of $1,700, equivalent to just over three times the average monthly wage in Iraq. However, she argued that this is insufficient and that the authorities should do more to support the survivors.
