MESOP TODAYS SHAME ON KRG/BARZANI GOVERNMENT : Closure of Yazda charity puts rescued Yazidi sex slaves at risk, director warns

5 Jan 2017 – LONDON,— The closure of a charity providing treatment for trauma to Kurdish Yazidi sex slaves rescued from Islamic State militants in northern Iraq will damage their chances of recovery, the charity’s head said on Wednesday.

The Yazidi-led charity Yazda, based in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Dohuk, had been providing aid and mental healthcare since 2014 to Yazidi women and girls who have been raped and enslaved by IS.Executive director of Yazda, Murad Ismael, said its offices were shut down on Monday by Kurdish authorities who accused the group of being illegally involved in “political activities”.

Ismael said the accusations were “baseless” and that many women and children’s lives were now at risk because they can no longer receive psychological treatment for their trauma.

“The centre saves lives but the services are not there now. Case workers can no longer visit them in the camps, and they can’t come to our centre,” Ismael told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Iraq.

Kurdish authorities did not respond to a request for comment.

While there are other aid groups in the region, Ismael said survivors felt more comfortable talking to Yazidi counsellors about their experiences. He said many rescued women would have committed suicide if Yazda’s therapists were not there to help.

Besides offering support to former IS captives, Yazda has also been documenting evidence of mass killings committed by Islamic State against his community, Ismael said.

Kurdish Yazidi activist and survivor of enslavement by the Islamic State group Nadia Murad has criticized Iraqi Kurdistan government for closing YAZDA group office in Duhok city and called on the Kurdish authorities to reverse the decision, writing on social media that it is a “shame to close the (organisation) that supports my campaign.” AFP reported.  www.mesop.de