ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani on Friday welcomed the decision of the Luxembourg parliament to recognize the 2014 crimes committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against the Yazidi community in Iraq as genocide, vowing to strengthen efforts to reunite the religious minority and to hold the militant group accountable.
The Luxembourg parliament on Thursday unanimously voted to recognize the atrocities of ISIS against the Yazidi people as genocide, joining the ranks of the United States, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands that have already done so.
“This declaration helps bring a greater sense of accountability for a community longing for security and the return of their ancestral homeland,” PM Barzani said in a tweet on Friday.
The Kurdish premier stressed the need to strengthen efforts to reunite the Yazidi community and support the displaced families, as well as renewing calls for implementing the Shingal agreement.
As we mourn as a nation still for what was lost during the recent ferman, we’ll strengthen our efforts to reunite every Yazidi with their community and bring perpetrators to justice; support displaced families, and continue to call for the normalization of Sinjar. #YazidiGenocide
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) November 11, 2022
The Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed an agreement in 2020 to “normalize” the situation in Shingal, and resolve a number of issues preventing its displaced people from returning to the area.
Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement, security for the troubled region would be Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and their affiliated groups.
ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Minority groups especially suffered under the terror group's rule, including Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province, according to the KRG Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. Over 2,000 remain missing.
The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/ISIL in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD) stated in May 2021 that they had established “clear and convincing evidence” that ISIS had committed genocide against the Yazidis.
