Vian Dakhil, the only Yezidi in the Iraqi parliament, claimed many of the women and girls have been relocated by fugitive ISIS fighters to other Iraqi provinces, including Baghdad.
During the first phase, 1,200 Yezidi women were sent to Germany. After going through rehabilitation programs, the former captives are free to decide whether they would prefer to stay in Europe or return to the Kurdistan Region.
“In the second phase, 500 Yezidi girls and women, freed from ISIS will be sent to Germany,” Dakhil told Rudaw.
France is also dedicating resources to helping the Yezidi women and girls, of whom 3,100 are still missing, Dakhil revealed.
She claimed that some of the Yezidis have been transferred by ISIS fighters to other Iraqi cities, including the capital.
“ISIS is present inside Baghdad. Some of the abducted girls and women have been transferred to Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces,” she claimed.
“Not only in Saladin, Mosul and Anbar, but they [ISIS] are also present in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and that the Yezidi girls and boys have not only been taken to Syria and Turkey, but also the Iraqi provinces as it is being disclosed bit by bit.”
She recounted the story of a Yezidi woman, aged 20, who has recently been discovered in Baghdad. The woman had informed her neighbors she was a Kurd and Yezidi.
After the neighbors informed police of her story, the militant holding her was arrested.
Dakhil confirmed the militant has been captured by police, saying “we are trying to bring back the girl.”
She claimed that Yezidis are still being bought and sold in Syria and Turkey.
Asked by Rudaw whether any budget had been allocated to pay ransoms, she said “the Iraqi government earmarked three billion dinars in ransom to help return the Yezidi women and girls. Except for that, no other amount has been allocated.”
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani established an office in 2014 to help rescue the Yezidis kidnapped by ISIS. More than 3,000 Yezidis have been rescued, according to the KRG.
More than 6,000 members of the religious minority were taken captive by ISIS when they swept through northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yezidis. Nearly half of the abductees remain unaccounted for.
