With parents still missing, Yazidi survivor raises siblings alone

KHANKE, Kurdistan Region — Yazidi survivor Fawzia Bashar Khalaf is not even 15 years old but is already the head of her family, with her parents still missing in Islamic State (ISIS) captivity. 

Khalaf was separated from her parents after being kidnapped by ISIS in August 2014. She was sold seven times, before being freed via smugglers two years ago. 

She now looks after her brothers by herself. 

"My brothers and I live alone. We had another brother who was martyred in Syria, who was older than me. I have no one else," she told Rudaw. 

"I am obliged to take care of them. I am both their father and mother."

Khalaf says she struggles to cope with the responsibilities she carries, but has little choice in the matter. 

She has been forced to drop out of school in order to look after her brothers, aged 10 and 12. 

"It's very difficult to find a girl my age who can handle the burden of a whole house alone. No one can handle it at a young age like mine, but I have to because we are without a father or a mother."

From the village of Wardia in Nineveh's Shingal district, Khalaf said she will not return, both due to safety concerns and the ongoing certainty over her family's whereabouts. 

"If they give me the choice to return I will not go back because I have no one left there. It is not safe there now."

Khalaf was one of 6, 417 Yazidis kidnapped when ISIS attacked Shingal, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. 2,880 remain missing. 

 Producer: Kirmanj Faraj

Subtitles by Sarkawt Mohammed