Speeches Shim
Like many Yazidis, Naleen and her family are no strangers to hardship. When they fled their home in Sinjar in 2014 to escape ISIS, one of her daughters was left behind with her uncle’s family. To this day, Naleen does not know where she is. For the last six years, Naleen and her family have lived in Kobarto 1 Camp in Duhok. While living at the camp, Naleen lost her husband to cancer, leaving her to care for their 12 children on her own. With scarce resources, Naleen relied on neighbors to collect money to help her cover the funeral costs.
Since he was ten years old, Arkan would go to the Tigris River early mornings to fish and sell his catch in Mosul’s old market. This was his daily routine until the fighting against ISIS shook his life forever: his father was killed, his house and fishing boat were destroyed in the air strikes, and Arkan fled to safety.
Before ISIS, Ahmed worked in many shops in Mosul’s Old City as a tailor repairing bags. He always dreamt of owning his own business and developing his own brand but lacked the required financial resources to make it a reality. “For 15 years I worked in many shops to make bags for other people, but now I want my own business and my own tools,” said Ahmed, “I want to develop this as a profession that I love. I dream of having a brand known in Mosul”.
When ISIS invaded Sinjar in 2014, thousands of Yezidi women were taken captive. Among those kidnapped was Silva*. She was newly married and pregnant at the time, but she lost her baby due to the frequent physical and mental abuse at the hands of ISIS. She was finally able to escape and regain her freedom after an airstrike hit the area where she was held captive. Mentally and physically scarred from her experiences, Silva and her family now live in an Internally Displaced People camp in Duhok.
In 2014, Shireen, her husband, and their children were taken by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from their village near Sinjar and forced to move to Mosul where Shireen was made a servant in the house of an ISIS member. Her husband was separated from her and her children and taken to Syria. Later, Shireen was moved to Syria as well, but she never was able to find her husband.
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Last updated: April 13, 2021
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