Yezidis abducted by ISIS released from Syria’s Hawl Camp

Women and children in Hawl Camp – North Press
Women and children in Hawl Camp – North Press

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Office for Yezidi Abductees’ Affairs in Duhok Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG) announced on Saturday the release of two Yezidi women that were kidnapped by ISIS in Syria.

The two young girls (15-20 years old) were released from Hawl Camp, near Hasakah in northeast Syria, the Office for Yezidi Abductees’ Affairs head Hussein Qaedi said.

The Office for Yezidi Abductees’ Affairs is considered the official reliable source by UN regarding statistics on kidnapped or missing Yezidis.

The research teams for Yezidis kidnapped in Syria found the two women inside the camp while the search was still ongoing, he said in a press statement.

Hawl Camp, which houses about 70,000 people, is considered the most dangerous camp for IDPs in the world, according to international reports.

With the two released women, number of found Yezidis came to 3,542, including 1,204 women, 339 men, and the rest children, according to the office.

The Kurdish-speaking Yezidi minority has been subjected to over 70 massacres throughout their history due to their unique religious beliefs, which their persecutors have labelled as devil worship. The 2014 massacres by the Islamic State in northern Iraq resulted in huge numbers of dead and kidnapped Yezidis, in addition to the destruction of over 70 of their cultural and religious sites. During the massacres, about 6,417 Yezidis, including 3,548 women, were kidnapped, according to the Office for Yezidi Abductees’ Affairs.