Iraq’s Sinjar Dist May Forever Be Changed As Few Yazidis Have Returned

(Wikipedia)

There have recently been two humanitarian reports on the situation in Ninewa’s Sinjar district. One looked at a subdistrict and found a severe lack of rebuilding. The second noted that the increase in Turkish air strikes on the area was another detriment to people returning. It found that only 30% of Yazidis have returned as a result.

 

The United Nations did a profile of two towns in Sinjar Tel Banat and Tel Qasab southeast of Sinjar city which found widespread destruction and a lack of services. Two-thirds of residents said that access to health care was a priority. Eight out of 10 community leaders reported that medical services were lower than before the war. Only 24% of children in Tel Banat and 20% in Tel Qasab were going to school, which lacked teachers, equipment, supplies and many couldn’t afford the costs. 90% of both areas were not connected to the water system and relied upon water trucks instead. There was widespread unemployment and all neighborhoods stated that they didn’t have enough money to cover expenses. 67% of people in Tel Banat and 78% in Tel Qasab had damaged homes. Because of these issues the majority of the population remains displaced and said they had no plans to return. This is true for most of the internal refugees in Iraq. The lack of services and jobs along with damaged infrastructure and houses have kept over one million people displaced in Iraq five years after the war against the Islamic State ended.

 

An aid agency wrote another piece about Yazidis which noted that an uptick in Turkish air strikes was another reason why people did not want to go back to Sinjar. Ankara has been targeting the district because of the large Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) presence there. The group helped liberate the area during the war and has set up shop there since then. That has led to increasing bombing missions by Turkey. Those have accounted for 60% of the civilian casualties in the area. This provides another deterrent for returns.

 

The International Organization for Migration has statistics on the slow rate of return to Sinjar. From June to December 2020 38,000 Yazidis travelled back to the district. From February to December 2021 however that number dropped to around 5,000.

 

The Yazidis faced genocide at the hands of the Islamic State. Most of their towns were forcibly evacuated by the militants. Afterward the government has done little to alleviate their situation. There is little rebuilding. There is no protection from Turkey. Baghdad’s authority is even in question with the PKK presence. Sinjar may be forever changed as a result as the majority of the population may never go back because the longer they stay displaced the less likely they are to return.

 

SOURCES

 

Al Mada, “Only 30% of all Yazidis have returned to Sinjar,” 2/13/22

 

UNHCR – Reach, “Sinjar Area-Based Assessment, Iraq Profile, December 2021,”