The 6,500 displaced Yazidi residents of Bajed Kandal Camp No. 2 have endured a hard 18 months since Islamic State (ISIS) forced them to flee their homes and enslaved, massacred and raped their community in Shingal. Since then they have endured tough living conditions and two harsh winters which saw them endure floods while living in flimsy tents only designed for very short-term usage.
On top of this the Yazidis technically are not refugees since they didn’t leave what legally constitutes the country of Iraq. Instead they are Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). This means they cannot avail of full funding from aid organizations like the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Both of whom cut aid funding to them by an enormous 80% last year.
In a bid to bolster their morale and spirits aid workers in the camp, many of whom are members of the Swedish Medical Hospital affiliated Joint Help for Kurdistan charity, which established a clinic there, begun an initiative a few weeks ago. They brought some sowing machines to the camp and solicited the help of 26 of the camps young female residents. The purpose being to make white dresses fitted to size for the elderly women of the camp.
Many of these women, Dr. Nemam Ghafouri of Joint Help for Kurdistan told Rudaw English, lost their traditional dresses, attire of great symbolic and cultural significance to them, during the ISIS attack. She said some of the women told of how “their treasured dresses were torn up by ISIS leaving them half naked with nothing to wear for days, some cases even weeks. Others spoke of how entire Yazidi families were taken to a large hall and many women left half-naked by ISIS.”
“The humiliation,” she added, “was unbearable for those elderly women who’s white dresses were torn apart in front of everyone leaving them naked. Efforts by others to cover the women were prevented by ISIS men.”
By making these women new dresses, Ghafouri explained, to make these women feel loved and respected having had to endure such abject humiliation and simultaneously demonstrating their own love and respect.
Their efforts were sponsored by the International Veterans Alliance who will bring the Assyrian singer Linda George to the camp to provide entertainment. An important albeit brief respite from tough times.
On top of this the Yazidis technically are not refugees since they didn’t leave what legally constitutes the country of Iraq. Instead they are Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). This means they cannot avail of full funding from aid organizations like the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Both of whom cut aid funding to them by an enormous 80% last year.
In a bid to bolster their morale and spirits aid workers in the camp, many of whom are members of the Swedish Medical Hospital affiliated Joint Help for Kurdistan charity, which established a clinic there, begun an initiative a few weeks ago. They brought some sowing machines to the camp and solicited the help of 26 of the camps young female residents. The purpose being to make white dresses fitted to size for the elderly women of the camp.
Many of these women, Dr. Nemam Ghafouri of Joint Help for Kurdistan told Rudaw English, lost their traditional dresses, attire of great symbolic and cultural significance to them, during the ISIS attack. She said some of the women told of how “their treasured dresses were torn up by ISIS leaving them half naked with nothing to wear for days, some cases even weeks. Others spoke of how entire Yazidi families were taken to a large hall and many women left half-naked by ISIS.”
“The humiliation,” she added, “was unbearable for those elderly women who’s white dresses were torn apart in front of everyone leaving them naked. Efforts by others to cover the women were prevented by ISIS men.”
By making these women new dresses, Ghafouri explained, to make these women feel loved and respected having had to endure such abject humiliation and simultaneously demonstrating their own love and respect.
Their efforts were sponsored by the International Veterans Alliance who will bring the Assyrian singer Linda George to the camp to provide entertainment. An important albeit brief respite from tough times.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment