Political reforms in Sinjar (Iraq)

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) supports a statement by various Yazidi personalities and institutions regarding an agreement between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) on the future of the Yazidi region of Sinjar (Shingal) in the northwest of Iraq.

In the statement, the personalities and institutions welcome the agreement between Baghdad and the KRG in principle, but with concrete demands on the two governments. "The hundreds of thousands of Yazidi refugees – who are still living in refugee camps, after they had to flee from the brutal attacks of the so-called Islamic State in the summer of 2014 – will only be able to return to their traditional homeland if the dispute over the Sinjar region is settled," explained Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP's Middle East Consultant. Even reconstruction initiatives with international support, especially from Germany and other EU countries, could only be successful if a unified and stable administration is established in Sinjar. Moreover, all Yazidi militias must be integrated into legal, regular units of the Iraqi military.    

The STP as well as many Yazidi voices are already warning against a failure of the agreement between Baghdad and Kurdistan. Many forces, especially the Iran-backed Shiite militias, could try to obstruct the implementation of the agreement, and IS and other radical Sunni forces are trying to assert their claims to power in the region-with as well – with direct military support from the Turkish army. Turkish fighter planes and especially drones are flying attacks on Sinjar, allegedly against forces of the Kurdish PKK. In reality, however, they are targeting Yazidi activists who want to protect the Sinjar region from IS attacks.

"Sinjar, which has been disadvantaged for centuries, must not become the object of a geopolitical dispute between Shiite Iran and Sunni Turkey," Sido emphasized. "The Yazidi population has been repeatedly subjected to persecution, expulsion, and genocide crimes by the Muslim neighbors. The people are tired of war, they want to live in peace and quiet. Thus, the governments in Baghdad and Kurdistan must settle the conflict over Sinjar peacefully and with the active participation of the Yazidi population.   

The quoted statement was published yesterday, October 22. Among the signatories are Dr. Mirza Hasan Dinnayi, Yazidi author and activist from Sinjar and 2019 winner of the "Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity", as well as the Central Council of the Yazidis in Germany. A German translation of the statement is attached.