Documentary highlights plight of Yezidi child soldiers who survived ISIS: Amnesty International
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Amnesty International and Fat Rat Films released a documentary highlighting the agony of the Yezidi former child soldiers who survived abduction by the Islamic State (ISIS).
The film, Captives on the Frontlines: Yezidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS, tells the story of two Yezidi boys who were abducted and enslaved by ISIS and were forced to convert to Islam and to fight alongside ISIS against their own people.
In 2014, ISIS launched an attack on the Yezidi community in Sinjar (Shingal) and killed at least 3,000 Yezidis and kidnapped more than 6,000, including women and children. Some of them are still missing.
Between 2014 and 2017, ISIS committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and what the UN describes as genocide against the Yezidi community in Iraq, Amnesty said.
In 2018, the two boys, identified as Vian and Barzan, escaped from ISIS and currently live in northern Iraq.
A friendship flourished between Vian and Barzan during the times they were fighting alongside ISIS in the middle of the most difficult circumstances, Amnesty added.
Vian and Barzan used to tell each other about each one’s sadness and so became best friends.
“To date, many Yezidi survivors have still not received adequate support for their physical health, mental health or education,” Amnesty noted.