”The YPJ helped me and managed to free me during Operation Humanity & Security, and now I would like to return to my hometown in Kocho and reunite with my family,” said an 18-year-old Yazidi woman freed from ISIS in Hol Camp.
On August 3, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) managed to liberate an 18-year-old Yazidi woman from the al-Hol camp during Operation Humanity & Security 2 launched against ISIS sleeper cells in the camp.
The Yazidi woman is called Wafaa Ali Abbas and was born in the village of Kocho in the Shengal region. She and her sister were among the thousands of Yazidi girls and women kidnapped by ISIS when they attacked the Yazidi religious minority in the Shengal area on August 3, 2014. Wafaa was only 9 years old at that time.
“ISIS members took us first to Mosul, then we were transferred to Raqqa where we were repeatedly raped, enslaved, and sold out in slave markets,” Waffa said.
The two Yazidi sisters were separated in Raqqa, and they were enslaved by two different ISIS terrorists.
"Despite the fact that she was deaf, my sister was sold out and enslaved by an ISIS member,” she added.
Wafaa was enslaved repeatedly by ISIS members. “The first terrorist had enslaved me for 15 days before he sold me to another one. After a series of marriages, I got married to the seventh one when I arrived at the camp,” she said.
Waffa was detained by ISIS sleeper cells in the camp.
In the end, Waffa said: ”The YPJ helped me and managed to free me during Operation Humanity & Security, and now I would like to return to my hometown in Kocho and reunite with my family.”
7000 Yazidi women from Shengal trafficked into slavery
ISIS abducted about 7000 Yazidi women from Shengal into slavery in 2014, some of whom are still in the hands of ISIS supporters in other countries. 2700 to 2800 people are still considered missing. Many of the abducted women were initially taken to Raqqa. During the crushing of the last ISIS enclave in al-Bagouz in eastern Syria in spring 2019, numerous Yazidi women and children were freed. However, not all of them identified themselves as Yazidis for fear of the consequences. During the almost five years of captivity at the hands of ISIS, children in particular were indoctrinated in Islamism and the women were told horror stories about the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The rapes also resulted in many children, which makes the situation even more difficult for the Yazidi women.
