Iraqi letter to Syria’s Al-Sharaa on missing Yezidi women

Shafaq News/ Iraqi lawmaker Vian Dakhil issued a statement, on Thursday, urging Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa to prioritize the release of kidnapped Yazidi women held in Syrian territory. Dakhil also called on the governments of Baghdad and Erbil to engage with the new Syrian administration to push for concrete steps in addressing this issue.

Dakhil asked the Syrian government to make every effort to address the plight of Yazidi women kidnapped by ISIS and to reveal their fate, particularly as large numbers of these women are still believed to be held in Syria, where they "suffered the most horrific crimes."

“This humanitarian issue cannot be delayed or ignored,” Dakhil said, calling for immediate action from the Iraqi government and official communication with the new Syrian president to press for swift, practical measures.

She emphasized the need for intensified search operations, intelligence cooperation, and official channels between the Iraqi federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Syria "to achieve tangible results."

Dakhil also praised the significant role played by the Yazidi abductees' rescue office and the Kurdistan Regional Government in efforts to free the women, especially when other parties had failed in their responsibilities.

She stated that no new Syrian administration could ignore this humanitarian crisis, calling it "a true test of the Syrian leadership's commitment to human rights and justice." Dakhil urged the Iraqi government to prioritize this issue in its bilateral relations with Syria while coordinating with the Kurdistan Regional Government and the international community to ensure the remaining abducted Yazidis are freed and to "close this open wound in the Yazidi community."

ISIS had overrun the Sinjar district in Nineveh in 2014, committing a massacre against its residents, who are primarily Yazidis. The group killed the men and abducted the women and girls. Since then, periodic announcements have been made about the release of Yazidi women, some of whom were taken to the Al-Hol camp or other areas in Syria.

Recently, the release of a Yazidi woman from Gaza was reported, who had been transported there by her ISIS captors.