Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil Calls on International Community to Give Refuge to Yazidis

In a recent TV interview, Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil called upon the EU, human rights organizations, and the international community to enable the Yazidis to flee Iraq. In the interview, which aired on Mayadeen TV on August 8, 2014, Dakhil said: "After the recent massacre that we have suffered in Sinjar, I believe that we must now protect what is left of our religion, rather than hold on to a land that refuses to hold on to us."

Following are excerpts:

Vian Dakhil: Let me start by recounting a true story that a woman told me yesterday at 2 AM, as she was crying. She said to me: "Four days ago, I fled my village with my five children after they had slaughtered my husband. Two of them died of thirst, and I left one, disabled, on the mountain. Now I am going on, trying to save my remaining two children." No family, no shelter, no food, and nothing to drink… No water…

The Christians in Iraq and elsewhere have a powerful lobby. They have the strong support of the European nations and the Vatican. But as for the Yazidis – we are just a small people. We have nobody. Nobody supports us. When a country like France welcomes the Christians [of Iraq] – their people share the same religion, and perhaps the same nationality. But as for the Yazidis – where can we go?

That's what I am trying, with all my might, to make my voice heard by the EU, by human rights organizations, and by the international community, so that the Yazidis – what is left of the Yazidis – can have the same opportunity to flee, to leave Iraq.

This is our country. We have lived here for thousands of years. We are the most ancient people living in this land, but we are being killed, exterminated, on this land.

Interviewer: You are demanding to leave the country?

Vian Dakhil: Of course. I am demanding to allow us to leave, at the very least in order to save what is left of the Yazidis. If we remain in this situation, we might be attacked again. My dear brother, let me tell you something important: Over the course of history, the Yazidis have suffered 72 genocides. What remains of the Yazidis, after they were killed in these regions – in northern Iraq, southern Turkey, and western [sic] Syria…

The number of surviving Yazidis did not exceed 600,000. We remained here, preserving our heritage, our religion, and our land. But after the recent massacre that we have suffered in Sinjar, I believe that we must now protect what is left of our religion, rather than hold on to a land that refuses to hold on to us.

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