Six years have passed since the genocide in Shengal. The humanitarian corridor to Rojava, cleared by the HPG, YJA-Star, YPG and YPJ, was the salvation of over one hundred thousand Yazidis from the ISIS.

Yazidis welcomed into Rojava with open arms

One of those who received the refugees in Rojava at that time is Faris Şemo from Tirbespiyê. He reports about that time: "The Yazidis from Tirbespiyê formed a committee. I was part of the committee. The people from Rojava welcomed those displaced with open arms. We accommodated about 1,700 people from Shengal in the town and the surrounding Yazidi villages. Also many Kurds, Syriacs and Arabs opened their houses to the victims of the ISIS genocide and accommodated them at their homes. They were with us for about a year. Many lived in the Newroz Camp."

Autonomous Administration mobilised all means

"There was an urgent need for health care and humanitarian aid. The autonomous administration set up health care tents in Girkê Legê and offered services. Subsequently, aid was provided on the spot. As a committee we were able to bring ten trucks loaded with clothes and food to the village of Kerse in the Shengal region. On the way back we drove the people who wanted to come to Rojava on the trucks."

Without the guerrillas nobody could have saved themselves

"If the HPG hadn't opened a corridor, no one could have saved themselves. As Yazidis, we will not forget this help until the last moment of our lives. Over the past six years, the YPG have freed women and children from the hands of the ISIS and ensured that they can return to their families. We are infinitely grateful to the forces that saved the people in Shengal from certain death.”

The biggest threat comes from Turkey

"About 80 mass graves in Shengal have not been opened yet. The Turkish contribution to the ISIS mass murder is great, because Turkey is the biggest supporter of the ISIS. To this day, Turkish fighter jets are still attacking the defence forces of Êzidxan (Yazidi land) in the Shengal region. At the same time, the unarmed and completely innocent Yazidi population is bombed. These attacks are a continuation of the massacre.”

Self-defence forces built up

"After the massacre, the Yazidi population built its own autonomous self-government and defense forces such as Asayish, YBŞ and YJŞ. Our greatest hope is that the Yazidi people will ensure their own coexistence."