The Iraqi Ministry of Immigration issued a written statement concerning the return of IDPs who had been staying in camps in South Kurdistan since the ISIS onslaught on Shengal, on 3 August 2014.

According to the statement, 307 IDPs from the Sharya Camp in Duhok returned to Shengal and the village of Cezire in Nineveh yesterday.

According to the statement, the IDPs in question have returned to their lands voluntarily and would be provided with all the help they need.

Background

Shengal (Sinjar) is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS gangs began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind. HPG-YJA Star and YPG-YPJ fighters came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression.

After months of resistance, the fighters who saved the Yazidi people from a larger genocide liberated Shengal. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.

UN bodies and the European Parliament have recognised ISIS crimes as genocide, as have Armenia, Australia, the US House of Representatives, the Scottish Parliament and the German Parliament (Bundestag).