Opinion
Opinion

Reflections 11 Years From the Yezidi Genocide

More than 2,500 Yezidi women and children remain missing to this day following ethnic cleansing in 2014.
Reflections 11 Years From the Yezidi Genocide
A woman reacts during a mass funeral for Yezidi victims of the ISIS terrorist group in the northern Iraqi village of Kojo in the Sinjar district, on Feb. 6, 2021. Zaid al-Obeidi/AFP via Getty Images
Charmaine Hedding
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Commentary

It was Aug. 3, 2014, and I remember sitting in front of the television, watching in horror as the so-called Islamic State swept across Iraq and Syria, ethnically cleansing Yezidis and Christians from every territory it seized. On the screen were haunting images of Sinjar Mountain, where tens of thousands of Yezidis had fled. Now trapped, they were starving and dying of dehydration under the burning sun.

Charmaine Hedding
Charmaine Hedding
Author
Charmaine Hedding is the President and founder of the Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization dedicated to supporting religious minorities and victims of persecution worldwide. With decades of experience in crisis response across the Middle East and Africa, she advocates for justice, freedom, and human dignity.