Kemal Axa, Chairman of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)’s Iraqi Parliament Group talked to Rojnews regarding the massacre of the Yazidis and obstacles to their return to their homeland.
Axa said that both the Iraqi and regional governments are preventing Yazidis from going back to their homeland, also remarking that the Turkish state’s attacks against the region are in violation of international and local laws.
“The Iraqi government and local governments in some parts of the Kurdistan Region are preventing Yazidis from returning, in their own interests. In particular, they want the role of district governor to be given to someone of their choice,” said Axa
The Chairman added that the massacre of the Yazidis was one of the most severe massacres ever to have occurred, stating that serious work must be done for the Yazidis to be able to go back to their homeland and live peacefully.
An estimated 7,000 Yazidi women and girls, some as young as nine, were enslaved and forcibly transferred to locations in Iraq and eastern Syria.
In addition, many people were murdered and dumped in 87 mass graves. The remaining Yazidi people have been living in refugee camps since 2014.