On August 3, 2014, ISIS attacked the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, killing thousands of children, women and elderly people and kidnapping thousands of women and youngsters. The KDP forces and the Iraqi army, who were supposedly defending Shengal, fled the town when the ISIS attacks began, leaving the Yazidi people in the clutches of the gangs.

Rojîn Hadid Talal is one of the thousands of people abducted during the Shengal genocide. Rojîn, who was a child when he was abducted, returned to the Yazidi House in the Cizire Region of North-East Syria at the age of 17. The Yazidi House helped Rojîn reach his relatives in Shengal.

On November 26, Yazidi House in Cizire Region announced receiving Rojîn Hedîd Telal (17), from the village of Herdan in Shengal, from the Internal Security Forces in Hesekê.

The ISIS gangs who abducted Rojîn took him all over Syria and finally to Idlib in 2019.

According to Yazidi organizations, ISIS gangs abducted 6,417 Yazidis (3,548 women and 2,869 men). A total of 3,739 Yazidi citizens, including 1,203 women, were freed as part of the rescue operations. However, the fate of hundreds of children remains unknown so far.

Rojîn, who was kidnapped by ISIS gangs in his childhood, is full of pain, anxiety and sorrow after the gangs tore him away from his family and took him to Syria. With his abduction, his story of being sold as a slave in the markets controlled by ISIS gangs begins.

Rojîn still feels great fear and anxiety after what he went through at the hands of ISIS gangs. The young boy, who faced great brutality during the years he was held captive, is still traumatized by these inhumane approaches. Speaking to ANHA, Rojîn said that he did not remember anything about the details of his abduction and the pain he suffered.

Rojîn stated that he was abducted from Herdan village in Shengal, transported to Syria and taken around in many regions. His torment of being dragged along in different parts of Syria ended with the defeat of ISIS in its last stronghold, Baxoz. The gangs had bought him from a gang called Ehmed.

When the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached the town of Baxoz and besieged the gangs, Rojîn had to relocate again. At that time, he went to Hol Camp with an Iraqi girl from the family of ISIS gangs. From there, he made it to the Idlib city, which is under the control of the occupying Turkish state and gangs, through smugglers who helped ISIS families to escape.

Now 17 years old, Rojîn still remembers his family. However, he could not reach his family because he was held by ISIS and that his family was also kidnapped by the gangs.

The boy stated that he did not remember the details because he was young at the time, except for the pressure put on him by ISIS gangs to convert to Islam.

After Rojîn had the chance to reach his brother, who then communicated with the Yazidi House. They managed to bring Rojîn to the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria through smugglers. The Yazidi House said they were very happy that Rojîn was free now and returning to Shengal.