British woman sells jewelry, risks life and jail to free Yezidi captives

By Kurdistan Hassan

 

NOTTINGHAM, UK – A British mother has sold her jewelry and taken out bank loans to raise money to free Yezidi women held hostage by the Islamic State (ISIS). She has so far helped nine women and girls. 

“I had some jewelry when I got married and I sold that. I’ve done things like car boot sales in the UK. Friends have helped me. I’ve sold what I’ve got to sell. I set up a website for funding and I raised £47,000,” Rachel Miller told Rudaw. 

She has traveled to southern Turkey several times and paid brokers up to £7,500 each time to free the girls and women, British media has reported. 

Her Kurdish husband, Ibrahim, did not know his wife was doing this at first, risking her life to save others. He told Rudaw he is worried for her safety. 

“When I first found out, I was angry because she’s gone into the war zone and risked her life. And we have kids,” Ibrahim said. “I would rather her doing it with other ways. Like, I don’t know, she set up this charity. Maybe she can do some rehabilitation centre, maybe some education centre, something like that for those kids.”

UK anti-terror police questioned Miller for three hours, accusing her of assisting ISIS through paying ransoms, an accusation she denied. 

“But actually, when I help the girls, they’re not with ISIS. None of the money that I’ve used to help them would get into the pockets of ISIS. I’ve never dealt with ISIS,” Miller insisted. “I would never support them.”

The police inquiry is continuing.

An estimated 3,735 Yezidis are still in ISIS captivity, according to official figures. Freeing the girls and women is becoming increasingly difficult, a Yezidi doctor and activist told Rudaw English in August. 

“In the past our girls escaped and through smuggling networks were brought out. That was not expensive as you only had to pay these people. But escape is no longer possible,” said Dr. Mirza Dinnayi.

The girls and women still in captivity are “completely destroyed psychologically,” Dinnayi said. And ISIS now registers all the captives, making escape nearly impossible. 

“The only way is to pay ISIS and that is now very expensive,” he detailed, saying that smugglers ask for more money as the danger increases and ISIS fighters ‘selling’ the girls and women must also be paid.