Yezidi House checks Syria’s Hawl Camp for missing and kidnapped Yezidis
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Mahmoud Resho, a member of the Yezidi House in Syria’s Jazira region, stated Yezidi House always monitors the departure of displaced Syrians from Hawl Camp to ensure there are no missing or kidnapped Yezidis among them.
In October, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, based on the initiative launched by the Syrian Democratic Council and the wishes of the tribes’ notables and sheikhs, decided to evacuate Syrian families who wished to leave Hawl Camp.
“Despite verifying the documents of the departures through the archives of Hawl Camp, we are continuing our work on the ground as they leave,” Resho said.
He added to North Press that they were present during the last departure trip, which included 111 Syrian families, or 385 persons, returning to the Tabqa and Raqqa areas.
“We look at them again and check their pictures and their names to be sure, we are afraid that someone might leave using a fake name, that’s why our presence is essential to the camp,” Resho added.
Resho explained to North Press that kidnapped Yezidi children have been affected psychologically, and many have forgotten their Kurdish mother tongue and have had their Kurdish names changed by their ISIS captors.
Those who are old enough to remember their Yezidi identity may be too afraid to reveal themselves, and their use of a false name is an attempt to keep them hidden among ISIS families.
“We came here because many of them were captured by ISIS at a young age, their psychology has been affected, and some are afraid as well,” Resho added.
Tens of thousands of families of the Islamic State (ISIS) were transferred to Hawl Camp after the end of the battle for the group’s last stronghold in Baghouz in March 2019.
Yezidi House, in cooperation with the administration of Hawl Camp, has found dozens of abducted Yezidi children and women among ISIS families since 2019.
Resho said that they did not find any Yezidis during the nine trips that were conducted so far under the Syrian Democratic Council’s initiative aimed at emptying Hawl Camp of displaced Syrians.