Mediaboss Marketing

As bombs crunched into the ground around them in February last year, three young Yazidi women cowered in holes dug in the eastern Syrian desert, cradling their terrified children.

In the month that followed, hundreds of people hiding near them were killed by devastating barrages that destroyed what was left of Islamic States so-called caliphate and freed the former slaves and their toddlers from five years in the terror groups clutches.

But the ordeal of their lives was yet to begin. The trio, then aged 19, 20 and 24, and their five toddlers were thrown onto the last lorry out of the town of Baghouz, the black banners of the extremists replaced by the white flags of surrender, and driven to al-Hawl refugee camp where tens of thousands of people from towns and cities seized from Isis were being interned.

The women lay low in the camp, worried about being discovered by Kurdish guards who would identify them as former captives and separate them from other detainees. For a month they lived with a dilemma: being identified could deliver freedom, but it could bring a greater heartache than the horrors under Isis being separated from their children, maybe for ever.

For Yazidi women who gave birth to children of Isis fighters, those worst fears have now been realised. Their communities in Iraq have demanded they leave their children in Syria before they are accepted home. The forced separations have led to dozens of women being estranged from their children, some of whom they were told to hand over as soon as they gave birth.

Nearly two years after the collapse of Isis, what to do with the children born to extremists, and how to reunite families created and broken in such circumstances, remains far from being resolved among Yazidi communities and Iraqi officials. Even in Europe, where many Yazidis have been given asylum, those with the children of Isis have not found governments welcoming.

I have 22 young mothers in my care, said Dr Nemam Ghafouri, the founder of Joint Help for Kurdistan, a charity that supports Yazidi women. There are 56 children in the orphanage in Rumaila in Syria. We believe there are many dozens more such women and children.

When the three women were found in al-Hawl, officials arranged to send them home to their families in the ancestral Yazidi homelands of northern Iraq. All three had been seized from the town of Sinjar in mid-August 2014 as the terror group swept in from the south, unleashing its wrath on a community it had long targeted as godless.

Their ordeals traced almost the full arc of the Isis rule over western Iraq and eastern Syria, from their enslavement on 3 August 2014, weeks after the group had overrun Mosul and charged towards Erbil, until its capitulation on the banks of the Euphrates River.

Thousands like them were enslaved and passed around as trophies among the ranks of the jihadists. Thousands more men, including the three girls fathers and brothers, were killed in what has since been recognised as an attempted genocide and one of the most shocking events in the extremists five-year rampage.

The trio were repeatedly raped and sold before agreeing to marry. Two wed Saudis and the third an Iraqi. All the men were killed. Hundreds of women like them gave birth to children by men from all parts of the globe, nearly all of whom died.

After they were found in al-Hawl, the three women were taken to an orphanage in north-east Syria and told to leave their children with carers who would look after them while they got resettled at home in Iraq.

I looked at them and I knew I couldnt believe them, said one of the women, now 20, speaking from the Iraqi town of Duhok where she lives in a rented flat with her mother and sister, both of whom were also enslaved. When I came here, they told me I need to forget about them. They can never come to join me.

Ever since, the young mother has had to beg for photographs from workers at the camp. She was allowed to cross the border to visit once for four hours but has been discouraged from doing so again. Them, our clerics, my family and the Kurdish leadership on both sides all behave like that part of my life is over, she said. I would rather be back in the hell of Baghouz than endure this sort of pain.

A second of the former hostages said she was eight months pregnant when she was in al-Hawl. I gave birth at the orphanage in Rumaila, she said. I wasnt allowed to look at my baby, let alone hold him. So much has happened to us, and now this?

The third young mother, who, like her friends, agreed to meet in a coffee shop in Duhok, said there appeared to be no hope of Yazidi leaders changing their mind on a ruling in April last year in which clerics said rape survivors were welcome back but not their children.

Yazidi elders were criticised for taking an inflexible stance on an issue that has caused shame among their community. I dont want to talk about this subject because its very complicated, said a spokesman for the Yazidi cleric Baba Sheikh.

Ghafouri, the charity founder, said: Why should the UN listen to a patriarchal culture where only men are deciding what is better for a family? These girls are saying that life after being rescued is worse than being under the bombing of the entire world. What is better for the children should be a consideration here.

The third mother all three feared retribution from their families if they were identified said: My only option is to go live abroad. I will go anywhere. All I need is a government that will accept me and my children.

The fallout from the chaos that Isis caused continues to preoccupy several Yazidi smugglers who are trying to rescue community members who slipped through the cracks as the caliphate collapsed.

We know there are some in Idlib. There are some in Mosul too, said one man who has rescued more than 30 survivors, including women and children, by paying ransoms in Syria. Some have made it to the migrant route, including mothers with Isis children. That might be the best place for them, even on the high seas in sinking boats. At least they have their children.

Additional reporting by Nechirvan Mando

Read the original post:
After Isis, Yazidi women forced to leave their children behind - The Guardian

The shutdown of schools last February due to Covid-19 affected over 10 million children aged 6 to 17 across Iraq. Globally, the pandemic has created the largest educational disruption in history according to the UN. But in Iraq, school closures have become the latest impediment to the right to education for millions of children who have, in the recent past, already lost years of schooling.

As classes are set to resume partly for some children and exclusively for others through distance learning programs, many pupils and their families will have to cope with the practical burden and psychological toll of home-schooling in what is often a precarious environment. All while struggling to connect to the online platforms that are designed to enable their remote education.

Read more and download the briefing note here.

Read the original post:
The Great Disconnect: How remote learning in Iraq is leaving the most vulnerable further behind [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Along with large areas of northern and central Iraq, in 2014 the Islamic State (IS) group took control of areas in Al-Muqdadiya, Jalawlaa and Saadiya districts in Diyala governorate. Although the IS group controlled these areas of Diyala for a relatively short period (June to November 2014), there were significant consequences for the people and infrastructure.

As the conflict between the Iraqi Security Forces and the IS group erupted, people living in the conflict zone had no choice but to flee to safety with whatever they could carry by hand or fit in their cars.

As a result of the conflict, families lost loved ones, their homes, while others lost their primary source of income farms, orchards and cattle. According to the International Organization for Migration, by December 2014, more than 170,000 families were displaced from their homes in Diyala. Some resettled in safer areas of the same region, while others fled further.

From late 2014 until August 2020, Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) provided much-needed healthcare services across Diyala governorate. The services included supporting the health infrastructure in districts like Kalar, Jalawlaa and Saadiya with the rehabilitation of destroyed health structures, running of mobile clinics to respond to the acute needs of displaced people and those returning, as well as donations of essential supplies to existing health facilities.

MSF also provided necessary healthcare services to displaced people living in camps and among host communities in the governorate. However, MSF continues providing healthcare services in our regular projects in Ninewa, Kirkuk and Baghdad. Additionally, we support health structures in other locations on Iraq when there is a need.

In August 2020, after consultation with the Diyala directorate of health, MSF handed over the clinics at Alwand 1 camp and Sinsil primary healthcare centre our last projects in Diyala to the directorate of health and other local and international organisations, who will continue providing healthcare services to the remaining displaced people in the camp and returnees in other areas.

MSF will now focus our resources on other sites in Iraq, where urgent medical care is needed.

Excerpt from:
MSF hands over last projects in Diyala, Iraq, after six years [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

The Iraqi parliament on Saturday said a settlement agreement between the Iraqi government and Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the status of the Sinjar district of the northern Ninewa Governorate will accelerate the return of displaced people.

On Friday, the Iraqi Prime Ministry announced it reached a "historic deal" with the KRG, an agreement that will bolster the Iraqi federal authority in Sinjar under the constitution in terms of governance and security.

"The agreement will directly contribute to accelerate the return of the displaced families to their homes and ensure their stability in their areas," said Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament Bashir al-Haddad.

Al-Haddad stressed the importance of joint management between Baghdad and Erbil in dealing with the security of Sinjar along with the coordination of public services and the reconstruction of infrastructure.

According to the agreement obtained by Anadolu Agency (AA), the PKK presence will be removed from Sinjar and surrounding regions and will no longer play a role in the area.

Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) forces in Sinjar will also be taken out of the district, the agreement said.

The Iraqi prime minister's spokesperson Ahmed Mulla Talal said on Friday in a Twitter statement that the agreement will end the authority of intruding groups in Sinjar, referring to the PKK terrorist group.

The U.S. government also expressed its approval of the Sinjar deal. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a written statement on Saturday that the U.S. is pleased about the joint steps taken by the Iraqi government and the KRG for resolving the political and security issues in Sinjar.

She also expressed Washingtons hope that the deal will accelerate the conditions for the revitalization of Sinjar and will enable the safe and voluntary return of those who were displaced by the Daesh terrorist group.

The PKK terrorist group managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in mid-2014 under the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from the Daesh terror group. Since then, the PKK has reportedly established a new base in Sinjar for its logistical and command-and-control activities. Around 450,000 Yazidis escaped Sinjar after the Daesh group took control of the region in mid-2014.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks on Turkey. Iraq's KRG previously called the PKK's presence in Sinjar unacceptable and urged the militants to leave the area.

Turkey has long stressed that it will not tolerate terror threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps are not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terror threats, particularly in Sinjar.

In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children.

Follow this link:
Sinjar deal will help return of displaced civilians, Iraq's parliament says | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah

Iraq's feted archaeological sites,in the heart of ancient Mesopotamia, are sadlyall too familiar with looters, having been irresistible targets for theftover the centuries.

But this year, with resources to protect these sites diverted by authorities having to deal with a struggling economy, social unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, looting has picked up once more.

Buried under Iraq's soil are layers of remnants of civilisations that haveremained mostly undiscovered.

According to a 2005-10 field survey conducted by the Antiquities Inspector's office, there are more than 1,200 known archaeological sites in the country's southeast Dhi Qar governorate alone. These include the nearly 6,000-year-old city of Ur, the Biblical birthplace of Abraham,only fivepercent of which has beenexcavated since its discovery in 1855.

'The Rose of Baghdad': Lamia al-Gailani-Werr, defender of Iraq's heritage

Apart from this legendary site, which is completely fenced off, other archaeological sites are not adequately protected as Iraq still lacks the necessary infrastructure and manpower to safeguard its rich history.

These sites have been raided "virtually ever since they existed," archaeologist Ali al-Rubaie told Middle East Eye.

"But in the last decades, which started with the sanctions against Saddam Hussein's Baath regime [1990-2003], there has been a sharp rise in looting activities. Despite the existence of severe punishments, the activity never stopped."

At the time, the weakening of state institutions and the worsening of living conditions due to unprecedented economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council encouraged people to engage in looting. Local residents saw antiquities as an easy way to make a living while the country's economy was in tatters.

While most archaeological missions were completed before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, some of the locally recruited excavators ended up jobless and came back to plunder sites.

Rubaie said such instances took place in Dhi Qar's Tell Jokha, also known as Umm al-Aqarib, where the Sumerian kingdom of Umma was located.

"After the Baath regime's fall and the subsequent security vacuum, some of the workers [from a withdrawn archaeological mission] came back and illegally excavated the hill," he said.

Tell Jokha is emblematic of the devastating effect of the US invasion, which led to widespread looting activity.

After the US dismantled Iraq's law enforcement units, this ancient Sumerian city was intensively robbed for months, to the point where holes pockmarked the surfaces of the site and innumerable artefacts were pillaged before any archaeological unit could resume its activities.

"After 2003, I saw entire groups of looters come to raid the archaeological remains," said Abu Ahmed, a 60-year-old resident of the nearby village of al-Marrashda.

'There has been a resurgence in vandalism since last year, especially after the governorate witnessed violent protests that were followed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic'

-Taher Quinn, director of the Dhi Qar's Antiquities Inspectorate

In the wake of such a disaster, powerful religious authorities stepped in to try to curb the looting by issuing a fatwa.

A decree by Iraq's top Shia leader, Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, prompted many raiders to return their findings, but many gangs remained active.

Still, this archaeological complex, which contains more than seven separate sites, has very few guards to prevent looters from trespassing.

In the absence of adequate protection, local residents took it upon themselves to defend their local heritage as best they could.

Abu Ahmed and his neighbours resorted to threatening looters coming from other parts of Iraq.

"Raids usually happen late at night. In terms of the sites that are close to our houses, no one dared to reach them because they are within shooting range," he said.

But Tell Jokha's nearby residents are not the only ones carrying weapons. Looters also come prepared against those who might try to interfere in their activities.

"In the past few years, we have seen cars loaded with people entering [Tell Jokha]. We know that they are armed and dangerous thieves, so we are unable to repel them," Abu Ahmed said.

Dhi Qar's archaeological sites are spread over large areas and are difficult to protect, especially with the current level of police manpower, Taher Quinn, director of the Dhi Qar's Antiquities Inspectorate, told MEE.

"In order to solve the issue, the Department of Antiquities held a special meeting with the provincial police commanders last September, during which we agreed that the antiquities police should increase surveillance of archaeological sites."

Ever since the fall of Saddam's regime, there have been efforts to redevelop a special antiquities protection unit. The force has conducted training in protection and apprehension, and the efforts to muster an effective unit continue.

"During my time in office [December 2018 - June 2020], we supervised the training of a special force in order to protect archaeological sites, with over 250 qualified and well-equipped personnel," said Dhi Qar native Abdul-Amir al-Hamdani, an archaeologist and former minister of culture and tourism.

Last month, the province's special antiquities police stopped two antiquity smuggling networks and chased down two armed groups in Tell Jokha. In the operation, the antiquities police managed to recover 438 artefacts.

Nonetheless, Tell Jokha remains one of Iraq's most vandalised archaeological sites due to its large and isolated area.

According to Quinn, "there has been a resurgence in vandalism since last year, especially after the governorate witnessed violent protests that were followed by the outbreak of the coronaviruspandemic".

Large-scale, popular anti-government protests broke out a year ago across Iraq's central and southern cities. The movement was violently repressed, with security forces killing at least 560 protesters.

Director of public relations and information at Dhi Qar Police Command, Brigadier General Fuad Karim, said that many police forces working in rural areas of Nasiriyah withdrew to their barracks out of fear of retaliation from powerful tribes seeking to avenge the killing of protesters.

This created a new power vacuum in the province, further preventing sufficient protection of historical sites.

But while many police forces eventually returned to duty in most of southern Iraq, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year and the consequent repercussions on an already fragile economy played an additional role in the increase of looting.

"Unquestionably, the pandemic and the economic situation, which was worsened by the pandemic, caused a surge in looting activity in Iraq," said Salah Hatem, archaeologist and assistant professor at al-Qadisiyah University in Diwaniyah, in the governorate adjoining Dhi Qar to the northwest.

"Impoverished Iraqis resort to looting in search for gold or statues and destroy structures, architecture and clay tablets that have lesser values in the eyes of traffickers."

At the root of the threat facing Iraq's heritage is that protecting antiquities was never seen as a top priority by Iraqi decision-makers nor by US forces after they invaded the country.

Hamdani noted that, since its inception, a part of the special force trained to guard heritage sites was diverted from its mission to protect other establishments.

"Right after the downfall of the Baath regime, while insecurity was growing steadily, many sites were neglected, as priority was given to what were considered as more vital institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or banks, while archaeological sites remained unprotected," Hamdani said. "This remains a major problem till this day."

The former culture minister stressed the need to invest more in archaeological protection units, to increase the number of patrols around antiquity sites and to cut off smuggler routes.

Antiquities are usually smuggled to Jordan or Turkey before being sold on black markets around the region. They often end up in private collections.

Iraqi authorities regularly retrieve artefacts stolen mostly during the US occupation after international investigations locate them around the globe.

Meanwhile,Karimstressed that police forces are aware of the gravity of the situation and that local authorities are planning to increase patrols in Dhi Qar.

Nevertheless, experts remain dubious that authorities will manage to make an effective change.

"In general, the state acts irresponsibly towards the protection of archaeological sites simply because it suffers from a lack of funding, and staff professionalism", archaeologist Hatem claimed.

Local forces allocated to preserve Iraq's heritage will therefore need to improve their effectiveness and also tackle separate issues such as trespassing by farmers and cattle herders. Farmers have been reported installing water pipes in archaeological sites while digging in and around them to increase their farming surfaces.

"Farmers often bulldoze archaeological sites and then cultivate the land," Hatem said.

Cattle also regularly pass through archaeological remains in search of grazing areas, often damaging the fragile and ancient structures at the surface.

While the Iraqi invasion in 2003 caused irreparable damage to the Iraqi people and their heritage, the ongoing instability is increasing the toll and allowing the perpetuation of illegal looting.

As the country remains stricken by conflict and poverty, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to serve as another factor diverting the countrys efforts to restore and protect its unique cultural heritage.

By the end of September, the country was reporting close to 4,000 new cases every day and around 500 deaths per week. On 23 September, 5,055 new cases were reported across the country, the highest daily rate since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, low oil prices are limiting the prospects for economic recovery as the pandemic continues. In July, the economy was forecast to contract by as much as nine percent this year.

View original post here:
Coronavirus: Iraq's heritage sites suffer renewed wave of looting amid pandemic - Middle East Eye