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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Yazidi communities have built 2,500 homes in the foothills of the Shingal mountain range twelve years after the Islamic State’s (ISIS) genocidal onslaught against the community, clinging to an area they describe as reminiscent of their “last refuge” and symbol of survival amid renewed fears over ongoing security threats, residents told Rudaw on Sunday.
"We no longer have trust," Yazidi resident Mishko Murad told Rudaw's Adla Bakir. "The whole world knows what happened to the Yazidis. People are selling their properties in the plains, buying land near the mountain, and building homes there because they still fear another genocide."
Sulaiman Khidr, another resident, told Rudaw that "until 2014, people preferred living in the towns because there was no water or services here. But after ISIS came, we lost trust. Now, everyone wants to build a house near the mountain."
According to unofficial figures, an estimated 2,500 houses have been built along the foothills of the Shingal mountains in northwestern Iraq over the past 12 years, since the ISIS genocide onslaught claimed the lives of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Yazidi men and elderly women and abducted 6,417 women and children in a three-year campaign characterized by massacres, forced marriages, sexual violence, and other atrocities, forcing tens of thousands of Yazidis to flee their homes.
The move highlights the long-term impact of the 2014 genocide, with many survivors saying the trauma continues to shape where they live despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2017.
The shift reflects what residents describe as an attempt to remain close to what they see as their safest refuge in the event of another attack.
Residents say ongoing security fears outweigh efforts to rebuild their former communities emphasizing the Shingal mountains as a symbol of survival and “last refuge” for thousands of Yazidis took refuge and survived the 2014 ISIS offensive.
The move also underscores the challenges facing efforts to restore normal life in Shingal, where security concerns, damaged infrastructure, and political instability continue to affect their relocation.
Residents told Rudaw that prior to 2014, most Yazidis lived in towns and villages across the plains in Nineveh since the rugged areas lacked access to basic services and attracted few residents - a pattern that has since reversed.
“People were in the communities until 2014 and were not satisfied with these places because they did not have water. But after the arrival of ISIS, we no longer trust anyone,” Khidr said.
Monday, August 3, marks the 12th anniversary of the ISIS genocide against the Yazidis.
According to Hussein Qaidi, head of the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis at the Kurdistan Region Presidency, more than 135,000 Yazidis remain displaced in camps across the Kurdistan Region, while another 189,000 live in cities outside their ancestral homeland.
Baghdad has introduced financial incentives for displaced families returning to Shingal, but many cite security concerns, poor infrastructure, and delayed government assistance as major obstacles to returning.
ISIS militants killed an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Yazidi men and elderly women during the assault and abducted 6,417 women and children.
According to Qaidi, 3,595 abductees have since been rescued, while thousands remain missing. More than 18 countries, as well as the United Nations and the European Union, have recognized the atrocities committed against the Yazidis as genocide.
In statements to Rudaw ahead of the anniversary, Germany, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium reaffirmed their support for the Yazidi community, stressing the need for accountability, protection of survivors, and conditions that would allow displaced families to return safely and voluntarily to Shingal.
