In honor of International Refugee Day, Wadi and its partners are highlighting the systemic and current crises faced by the Yazidi community in Iraq and Germany. A press conference was scheduled for June 19, 2025 in Erbil, Iraq, but due to security concerns, the event has been postponed to July 2nd.
Wadi, a German-Iraqi non-governmental organization NGO, invites journalists, media representatives, human rights defenders, policymakers, and concerned citizens to attend a critical press conference focused on the current humanitarian and justice challenges facing Yazidi survivors, eleven years after the genocide.
This event is supported by the Dutch Consulate in Erbil and a joint initiative of the Active Citizenship Campaign.
"As we discuss refugees, we must acknowledge that the number of displaced people worldwide has doubled since 2015. Today, over 122 million people worldwide are fleeing war and persecution," the statement by Wadi says.
Over the past year, Wadi has worked with several partners to compile data on the multiple crises that the Yazidi community is facing concurrently.
The withdrawal of USAID and the collapse of international funding for projects supporting Yazidis with economic opportunities, education, food, and medical aid have resulted in negative impacts at the local level.
Wadi teams, who have been working in and around the camps and the Yazidi community for over 15 years, have been documenting these recent realities and will be presenting their findings at this event.
Human Network, an expert in health and medical affairs, will also be sharing their documentation of the health situation for Yazidis in and around the camps in the Dohuk Northern Province.
The press conference is part of Citizenship, a new project supported by Wadi and funded by the Dutch Consulate. The project aims to introduce new initiatives and address important societal challenges, including environmental degradation, gender-based violence GBV, all forms of school violence, lack of access to healthcare, and limited information on women's legal rights.
KirkukNow Media Outlet, a partner of Wadi, has recently published a series of in-depth genuine stories on the IDP camps. One of the stories highlights the lack of access to healthcare services for IDPs, including Yazidis. This issue is compounded by the lack of basic services such as water, electricity, and education.
In August 2014, the extremist militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS (Daesh) took over Shingal and captured 6417 Yazidis as captives and sex slaves, mainly women and children. To this day, 2781 of them remain missing.
Ezidis are a non-Muslim ethno-religious minority of about 550,000 people, mostly residing in Shingal, in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. The militants of Daesh extremist group attacked their communities in 2014, resulting in thousands of deaths and abductions, an atrocity the U.N. classified as genocide.
In early 2024, Wadi, in cooperation with ProAsyl Germany, published a report on the Yazidi situation in Iraq, calling for an end to deportations of Yazidis from Germany. The report highlighted the security situation, lack of access to education, healthcare, financial opportunities, and ongoing biases and bigotry faced by Yazidis.
Currently, out of 16 camps, only 6 have open healthcare centers providing basic care. Access to education, clean water, and other services remains difficult. Tens of thousands of Yazidis still live in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps of Duhok.
Amid IS attacks, 1,293 Yazidis were killed, 68 shrines were destroyed, and over 80 mass graves have been found. Additionally, Yazidis seeking refuge in Europe, mainly Germany, are still being deported back to Iraq, with some facing challenges reintegrating due to unemployment.
"The current situation is putting thousands of lives at risk. Please join us in supporting the Yazidi Community on World Refugee Day," the statement adds.
"Your presence and voice are essential in amplifying the reality of the Yazidi crisis and supporting lasting solutions."
