Yazidi woman in Ankara rescued in exchange for 8 thousand dollars

A Yazidi woman who had been living in an ISIS-controlled residence in Ankara's Kazan district for approximately three years was rescued after her relatives in Canada paid the gangs 8,000 dollars.

 

In 2014, ISIS gangs started a genocidal campaign against Yazidis in Shengal, with direct help from the Turkish state. While thousands of Yazidis were murdered in the attacks, tens of Yazidi women were sold in marketplaces, and the majority of them are still missing.

Every day, the Turkish state and its mercenaries kidnap residents in occupied areas of North-East Syria such as Afrin, Serêkaniyê, and Girê Spî and demand ransom from their families in exchange for their release. The ISIS gangs, who repeated the Turkish state's practice, kidnapped a Yazidi woman from Shengal and transported her to Ankara, from where she was handed over to her family for $8,000 USD.

Yazidî Rojda (23) was rescued from an ISIS member's house in Saray Neighbourhood in Ankara's Kazan district, after her relatives in Canada paid $8,000 to ISIS gangs.

Before departing Turkey, journalist Hale Gönültaş had a brief talk with Rojda.

The following is the content of the interview on Kısa Dalga Net:

THE JOURNEY FROM SHENGAL TO MAYADIN

When their village was raided by ISIS during the 2014 Shengal massacre in Iraq, Rojda was forced into a pickup truck with her mother and three sisters. She was kept with her mother and siblings for the first three weeks. Rojda and her siblings were later separated from their mother, and she hasn't heard from them since. For nearly two years, numerous ISIS militants bought and sold in the Syrian city of Raqqa following Mosul. In this entire process, women were exposed to physical brutality by ISIS fighters in addition to rape. As she was transported to Mayadin town, three and a half hours from Raqqa, by the ISIS member who bought her last in Raqqa, Rojda wished to end her life. She threw herself from the open door of the fast-moving pickup vehicle and disappeared into the void. Despite the fact that the passenger car from behind slowed, she remained under the vehicle, and Rojda had bruises and fractures on both legs. She was taken to a residence in Mayadin that was run by ISIS women for treatment. Rojda lived in this house for a long time.

ENFORCEMENT OF ISLAMIC RULES

The house was managed by two women from Turkey and Algeria, according to Rojda. Women used physical violence to force Rojda to follow the rules of Islam. Rojda described her mental state at the time as "Empty. I didn't have any feeling.”

WOMEN PLACED IN DIFFERENT HOUSES IN DEIR EZ-ZOR

One day, Rojda and other Yazidi women were removed from the basement. They were physically and psychologically exhausted. The wounds inflicted on the bodies of Yazidi women are treated according to the instructions of ISIS members who had come there. A short time later, ISIS men in two different trucks transported four Yazidi women and several Yazidi children to Deir ez-Zor. Women were placed to various houses. After a few weeks, an Egyptian ISIS member purchased Rojda. Then she stayed in the house, where the ISIS member brought Rojda, with his six children and three spouses. After a while, news of the Egyptian ISIS member's death arrived. This time, Rojda was transported to a widows' home in Deir ez-Zor. After some time, she was purchased by a Syrian ISIS member. With the increase in air and ground operations against ISIS, the Syrian ISIS militant and his family fled to the Turkish border. They remained in Idlib for some time. Rojda was eventually sold for $200 to a Turkish ISIS member in Idlib. The payment was also witnessed by Rojda herself.

'TEMPORARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATE' IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY

They crossed the border illegally. They stayed in an Antep city for a while. A Syrian ISIS member's application to Antep Provincial Migration Management for temporary protection for his wife and three children was accepted, and they were given identity cards. In Antep, Rojda was also photographed, and a bogus "temporary protection document" was prepared in exchange for money. After getting the IDs, they travelled to Ankara in a private vehicle with Rojda and settled in with the Syrian's relatives in the Kazan district's Saray neighbourhood.

RESCUED FOR 8,000 DOLLARS

Rojda had grown ill as a result of constant physical pains, excessive bleeding, and unending vomiting. The Syrian ISIS member planned to sell Rojda to her family and use the social networking program to contact distant relatives who had taken asylum in Canada. He showed his relatives Rojda through video call, had them talk, and said he could bring her to them for $8,000 if they wanted to.

DELIVERED TO ANKARA

Yazidis in Canada communicated with their Yazidi relatives in Europe, as well as international humanitarian organizations that assisted in transferring the Yazidi women and children from ISIS to Europe. The planning took them three days. Some people in Ankara were contacted in order to get Rojda out of Turkey. Reliable people in Ankara got in  touch with Syrian ISIS liaison connections. At midnight, Rojda was brought to accepters in one of Ankara's most remote regions. Due to Rojda's bad health, she was given medication and serum therapy in a safe location for one day and one night. Temporary treatments improved the status of her health. With the efforts of international humanitarian groups, Rojda was brought a few days ago to the country where her sister, similarly rescued from ISIS militants and currently undergoing rehabilitation, is staying.”