Yazidi returnees protest lack of basic services in Shingal village

SHINGAL, Iraq — Despite its liberation from the Islamic State (ISIS) four years ago,  only a handful of Yazidis have returned to the war-ravaged village of Siba Sheikh Khidir.

Returnees have begun protesting the lack of basic services. 

"Daesh [ISIS] attacked us with weapons, and we survived them. But they [the Iraqi government] will kill us with their policies. They do not allow people to return home. All we want is for the government to hear our voices," said teacher Faysal Dakhil. 

"There is no water or electricity here. During the summer we are forced to take shelter in the ruined buildings just to escape the heat," said Shirin Khalal. 

An estimated 5,000 families used to live in the village before the ISIS attack, but only 65 have returned.

ISIS militants swept across northern Iraq in August 2014, committing genocide against the Yazidis, an ethnoreligious minority who primarily lived in the Shingal district. In the first days of the ISIS attack, militants killed around 1,300 people, according to figures from the Kurdistan Region’s office for rescuing kidnapped Yazidis.

Translation by Zhelwan Zeyad Wali