Peace in Kurdistan Campaign sent an open letter to the UK Foreign Secretary Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP calling on him and the International Community to support the Yazidi people’s right to organise autonomous self defence forces and to promote rebuilding of community structures. 
The letter said: “We are deeply concerned by news that the government of Iraq and the KDP are demanding that local security forces, the Ezidxan Asayish (EA), leave Sinjar. The EA has been developed in response to the needs and political will of the Yazidi population and has in recent times been recognized by the Iraqi federal authorities. 

The demand that EA leaves Sinjar follows the 9 October 2020 “Sinjar Agreement” between the Iraqi government and the KDP under the purview of United Nations representatives and with the support of Turkey and the United States. The “Sinjar Agreement” was signed by the Iraqi government and KDP without any consultation with the Yazidi people. Since the announcement of this agreement, Sinjar has seen popular protests rejecting its terms and showing solidarity with the Ezidxan Asayish.”

The letter added: “The background to this dispute, as you will be aware, is that the Yazidi people have been persecuted for centuries.  The most recent genocide of the Yazidis began in August 2014, when the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) invaded Sinjar and surrounding areas, killing, kidnapping, and enslaving thousands of Yazidis and displacing hundreds of thousands.  The Yazidi genocide, was invoked as a major motivation for international military intervention against ISIS, an effort that ultimately led to their defeat as a territory-holding entity in the region.  However, years later, thousands of kidnapped Yazidis are still missing and Sinjar struggles to rebuild itself.”

The letter continued: “The Turkish state, which openly pursues a campaign of military expansionism and occupation in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, sees Sinjar as essential to the strategy of expanding its zones of occupation in the region and regaining control of the entirety of the former Ottoman province (vilayet) of Mosul, which comprises many provinces of present-day Iraq.

The Sinjar/Shengal Democratic Autonomous Council (Meclîsa Xweseriya Demokratîk a Şengalê, MXDŞ) has called for solutions to the region’s issues in accordance with the will of the peoples of Sinjar and stated, ‘We emphasize once again that we do not want war, but peace.’”

Peace in Kurdistan believes that “it is fundamental for the Iraqi government and the KDP to respect and recognize the will of the Yazidis and all of the peoples of Sinjar and assist them with rebuilding their society and ensuring that they can control their own security rather than persecuting them as they struggle to recover from the most recent genocide.” 

Peace in Kurdistan also calls “upon the UK government, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and world human rights organisations to work to protect the Yazidis from future massacres, assist with the reconstruction of Sinjar, and reject political and military steps taken in Sinjar that are contrary to the will of the peoples of the region.”