Yazidi teen goes missing in Germany

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A 17-year-old Yazidi girl has been missing in Ludwigsburg, Germany, for two weeks, a family member told Rudaw.

Despite a police search, her whereabouts remain unknown.

Raniya Mirza Ali moved to Germany at age eight with her aunt, her brother, Hogir Mirza Ali, said.

"My sister is 17. She has been living in Ludwigsburg for the past nine years. She has been missing since February 3, and we have no information about her whereabouts," he said.

Hogir added that Raniya is a student with no known mental or psychological conditions and that their parents live in the Kurdistan Region.

Their uncle, Mahir Mirza, who also resides in Germany, has reported her disappearance to the police.

Despite searches, including visits to the homes of her school friends, there has been no sign of her.

"Police have looked everywhere, but no one knows where she is," Hogir told Rudaw English, urgingthe Kurdish diaspora to assist in locating his sister.

Germany is home to over 200,000 Yazidis, many of whom moved there following the Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on their homeland in Shingal in August 2014, Reem Alabali-Radovan, Germany’s state minister for integration, told Rudaw in January 2023.