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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi President Barham Salih ratified the Yazidi survivor law on Monday in the presence a number of survivors of Islamic State (ISIS) captivity, the presidency’s media office said.
"Today we remember the plight of the Yazidis and Turkmen women and their resistance to ISIS," Salih said in a speech at the celebration organized by the Iraqi Parliamentary Assembly on International Women's Day.
Initially drafted to offer restitution solely to Yazidi women who were kidnapped by ISIS, the law passed applies to other ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Turkmen, Shabak, and Christians of both sexes, and Yazidi men who survived the mass killings.
"On #InternationalWomensDay, I am proud to sign the bill for Yezidi Female Survivors into Law, an important step to help survivors of atrocities by ISIS against Yezidis, Christians and Turkomen. Justice, restitution are crucial to ensure such horrendous crimes never happen again," Salih tweeted on Monday.
The Iraqi parliament passed the bill on March 1 after years of delay.
The legislation guarantees job opportunities for ISIS survivors by allocating them 2 percent of jobs in Iraq's public sector, along with a fixed salary and land.
The legislation includes the first legal recognition of the Yazidi genocide by the Iraqi government, a term previously acknowledged by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
"This recognition by Iraq from the highest authority is one important step toward justice," tweeted Yazidi activist Murad Ismael earlier this month of the genocide recognition, which also applies to the other minorities.
August 3 will be considered a day of commemoration for the crimes against Yazidis, according to the new law.
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