Yezidi survivor seeks help to reunite with her family in Canada

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Thousands of former ISIS captives have reunited their families, but not Faisal. The 16 year old Yezidi girl from the village of Solagh, to the south of Shingal was freed from ISIS captivity in al-Hol camp on April 10. She managed to flee to Duhok, where she now lives with her aunt in Khanke IDP Camp. But still separated from her family, she feels alone. 

I am a survivor from the hands of ISIS. but I am so sad," Ronya tells Rudaw. "I came here hoping to see my mother and siblings but I couldn’t... I can only see them in pictures," she says.

Ronya's mother and her four siblings migrated to Canada after they escaped from ISIS. It’s been six years since she has seen her family Now, Ronya dreams only of reuniting with them.She is seeking help to get an ID and passport so that she can apply to be reunited with her family in Canada.

"She keeps talking about her mother and siblings. She hasn’t seen them for six years, and she was a child when she was separated from her mother," says Hazar Khelef, Ronya’s aunt, "She wants to see them again — it should not be that difficult."

The al-Hol camp in Syria is home thousands of people captured from ISIS territory, including the wives and family members of imprisoned ISIS suspects.In the ISIS attack on Shingal in 2014, more than six thousand people were kidnapped. The fate of her father remains unknown. 

Duhok officials say 3,500 people liberated from ISIS have now reunited their families.

Many, like Ronya however, are still waiting.

"I miss them too much, I want to reunite with them."

Reporting by Ayub Nasri

Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed 

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