Kurdistan
19-year-old Yazidi youth rescued from a decade of ISIS captivity arrives in Chamishko camp in Zakho on 25 December 2023, where he is greeted by relatives and camp residents. Photo: Rudaw/Screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - After having been taken captive by the Islamic State (ISIS) nearly a decade ago, a 19-year-old Yazidi youth reunited with his family members at a camp in Duhok province on Monday.
Hazim Abbas was rescued by the Kurdistan Region Presidency’s Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidi and brought back to his immediate family members at the Chamishko internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Zakho.
Abbas was not ready to speak to journalists and his family did not want to disclose the location that he was rescued from, in fear of jeopardizing the attempts to rescue other family members still being held in the same place.
The moment Abbas arrived at the Chamishko camp, his relatives and other residents of the camp started performing a traditional Kurdish dance.
"Today, one of our captives from Siba Sheikh Khidir has returned. He just arrived at Chamishko [camp] in Zakho. We have all gathered here to welcome him back. We are thrilled to have him reunite with us," Base Qasim, an elderly woman, and a relative of Abbas, told Rudaw.
Bire Hasse, Abbas's grandmother, keeps praying for the return of all the other family members who have yet to be rescued.
"He is my grandson. There are still eight others [grandchildren] in the hands of ISIS. They had taken hostage 15 family members," Hasse said, adding that Abbas's parents are in Australia.
Abdulla Sharim, a member of the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis who took part in the process of rescuing Abbas, said it took them three months to rescue him, without disclosing where he was.
"It was easier to rescue our [Yazidi] hostages when ISIS was in power, because we knew exactly where they were, and we knew how to exploit ISIS' weak points and how to deal with this matter," Sharim said, noting that the job has now become more difficult.
"We used to say that with the end of ISIS the Yazidis' wounds would be healed by returning our sons and daughters from captivity. But ISIS has collapsed and not all of them have returned yet."
Of 6,417 Yazidis who were taken hostage by ISIS during a brutal takeover on August 3, 2014, Abbas is the 3,576th person to be rescued so far.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani established the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis in 2014 to find and return the missing Yazidi women and children.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS militants took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. Thousands fled their homes as the militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. More than 5,000 Yazidis were killed in the genocide.
Women and young girls were sold into sexual slavery, with young boys forced to fight for the terror group. Over 2,000 Yazidis remain missing.
Hazim Abbas was rescued by the Kurdistan Region Presidency’s Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidi and brought back to his immediate family members at the Chamishko internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Zakho.
Abbas was not ready to speak to journalists and his family did not want to disclose the location that he was rescued from, in fear of jeopardizing the attempts to rescue other family members still being held in the same place.
The moment Abbas arrived at the Chamishko camp, his relatives and other residents of the camp started performing a traditional Kurdish dance.
"Today, one of our captives from Siba Sheikh Khidir has returned. He just arrived at Chamishko [camp] in Zakho. We have all gathered here to welcome him back. We are thrilled to have him reunite with us," Base Qasim, an elderly woman, and a relative of Abbas, told Rudaw.
Bire Hasse, Abbas's grandmother, keeps praying for the return of all the other family members who have yet to be rescued.
"He is my grandson. There are still eight others [grandchildren] in the hands of ISIS. They had taken hostage 15 family members," Hasse said, adding that Abbas's parents are in Australia.
Abdulla Sharim, a member of the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis who took part in the process of rescuing Abbas, said it took them three months to rescue him, without disclosing where he was.
"It was easier to rescue our [Yazidi] hostages when ISIS was in power, because we knew exactly where they were, and we knew how to exploit ISIS' weak points and how to deal with this matter," Sharim said, noting that the job has now become more difficult.
"We used to say that with the end of ISIS the Yazidis' wounds would be healed by returning our sons and daughters from captivity. But ISIS has collapsed and not all of them have returned yet."
Of 6,417 Yazidis who were taken hostage by ISIS during a brutal takeover on August 3, 2014, Abbas is the 3,576th person to be rescued so far.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani established the Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis in 2014 to find and return the missing Yazidi women and children.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS militants took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. Thousands fled their homes as the militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. More than 5,000 Yazidis were killed in the genocide.
Women and young girls were sold into sexual slavery, with young boys forced to fight for the terror group. Over 2,000 Yazidis remain missing.
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