Yazidi region of Sinjar in Iraq

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls on the German government to support efforts to reach an agreement regarding the political and administrative status of the Sinjar (Shingal) region in the far northwest of Iraq. Currently, the Yazidi population, the regional government of Kurdistan, and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad are negotiating the terms of an according agreement.

At the beginning of October, it became known that Baghdad and Kurdistan had reached an agreement on the status of Sinjar, but were arguing over its implementation. "Because of the dispute between Baghdad and Kurdistan over the Yazidi region of Sinjar, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis who were expelled by the so-called Islamic State in August 2014 cannot return home from the refugee camps," explained Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East Consultant of the STP, in Göttingen.

After the Islamic State was driven out of Sinjar in 2015, various administrations were established – controlled by various different militia groups or political parties. "This has led to the current situation in which nobody and everybody feels responsible for reconstruction work and the security situation in Sinjar," Sido stated. "The many administrations and competing militias have caused chaos in a region that was already disadvantaged before the genocide crimes against the Yazidi population."

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, the STP has repeatedly demanded a special status for the Yazidi region of Sinjar. "According to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, the people there must be allowed to decide for themselves how they want to live," Sido emphasized. "The Yazidi population fears that they will otherwise continue to be dominated by the Muslims. For the majority of the Yazidi population, it is important to be involved in all decisions about the future of Sinjar. This is the only way to ensure that the Yazidis will not be abandoned again, exposed to ruthless attacks by radical Islamist militias. The victims of the genocide crimes need protection, security, freedom, and justice.

On August 3, 2014, the 400,000 Yazidis living in the Sinjar region were attacked by IS terrorist militias. Thousands were killed or abducted. The captured women were raped, forced to marry, or sold in slave markets.