For almost four weeks, a vigil has been held in front of the office of the local security forces (Yazidi Asayish, Asayîşa Êzîdxanê) in Shengal (Sinjar) to protest against the planned dissolution of the autonomous self-governing structures. The background is the agreement reached between Hewlêr (Erbil) and Baghdad on the distribution of authorities in the region.

The protest staged in front of the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê under the slogan "We are all asayish" is visited every day by people from the surrounding area.

Yazidis do not want to leave their protection to outside forces

On October 9, South Kurdistan’s ruling party KDP and the Iraqi central government agreed to take control of the Shengal region and disband all self-defense forces. In 2014, the HPG guerrillas alone, and later the YPG and YPJ from Rojava, had defended Shengal against ISIS and helped establish their own self-defense forces and democratic self-government in the region. In 2018, the HPG withdrew from the region after completing this task. Shengal has been protecting itself ever since, and the people there are no longer willing to leave their security and administration to outside forces in light of 74 massacres in Yazidi history.