The family of Khafse Ahmed (43) cannot explain everything. His brother says his trauma and despair are similar to many other Yazidis in the same camp.
They wanted to take him to the doctor. But after being alone in a tent for three minutes, Ahmed managed to hang himself from one of the ropes. In the overcrowded camp, relatives quickly found him. Dead.
Now there are songs and howls. Nearly a hundred women mourn the death of another. But they also sing about nightmares that have reality. About relatives are still missing. About their time as sex slaves of ISIS fighters. About the mass graves where your men lay. They miss their village, their home, their old life.
endless trauma
Everyone in this camp in northern Iraq lost everything when ISIS invaded Sinjar in 2014. The houses are in ruins. Thousands of men were killed and about 7,000 women and children were taken hostage and sold into slavery. About 3,000 Yazidis are still missing. Now, eight years later, most of the community lives in tent camps.
Sinjar, home to one of Iraq’s oldest minorities, the Yazidi minority, is more than two hours away. But they dare not go home.
“There are no statistics, but the suicide rate is constantly increasing,” explains therapist Nouri Khudhur. “Mostly women. They are the ones with the most problems. They often set themselves on fire. Sometimes they hang themselves or use weapons.”
Khudhur works in various camps around Dohuk. He is tired of the amount of work and all the stories he has heard. He felt the endless trauma. Khudhur: “Suicide is not allowed in our religion, but now people understand. Depression is huge. Everyone thinks about what happened in 2014. Genocide.
According to Khudhur, Yazidis “go from genocide to suicide”.
Reporter Daisy Mohr visited a camp for displaced Yazidis in northern Iraq and stood by when a mass grave was opened near Sinjar:
Source: NOS
Smith Charles is a talented entertainment journalist and author at The Nation View. He has a passion for all things entertainment and writes about the latest movies, TV shows, music, and celebrity news. He’s known for his in-depth interviews with actors, musicians, and other industry figures, and his ability to provide unique perspectives on the entertainment industry.
