Netherlands Consul General in Erbil, Hans Akerbom, said during a visit to the holy Yazidi temple in Lalish that the Dutch authorities support the Yazidis.

The Netherlands Consul was received by Mir Hazim Tahsin beg, the leader of the Yazidis in Iraq and the world, and Ali Elias Haji Nasir, the new supreme spiritual leader, also known as Baba Sheikh, who succeeded the late Harta Haji Ismail, who died two months ago.

” We are here to visit the Yazidi community, and we need to show how the Netherlands values the Yazidi community, " Akerbom said. “They suffered a lot during the fight against ISIS, so we, as the Netherlands, continue to support the Yazidis. We have several projects all over Kurdistan, as well as in the Sinjar [Shangal] region. This amounts to two and a half to three million euros, which we have spent on supporting the Yazidi community through NGOs and the United Nations.”

More importantly, the Netherlands government has repeatedly called for accountability for the atrocities committed by so-called ISIS against the Yazidis. Last year, during a meeting in New York, the Dutch Foreign Ministry, with the support of human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, insisted on seeking justice for the crimes committed by ISIS "Daesh".

For this reason, the Dutch are also funding a UN team investigating ISIS crimes to bring the terrorists to justice.

During the meeting, the Yazidi leadership requested additional support for the reconstruction of Shangal and efforts to rescue hundreds of Yazidi women and children who are still missing.

According to the Office for Abducted Yazidis, which was established by Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani, there are still about 3,000 missing Yazidis, including 1,300 women and children.

Before ISIS captured Shangal in August 2014, the region was home to about 200,000 residents, most of whom belonged to the Yazidi religious minority. The terrorist group continued to kidnap and kill countless people, and thousands of women and girls were forced into sexual slavery. These atrocities are now widely recognized as genocide.

Much of the city remains uninhabited and in ruins, and very few of its former residents have returned to their homes.

Hazim Mir Tahsin beg said, "the Kurdistan 24" that they were delighted with the visit of the Dutch. "The Netherlands has helped the Yazidis in the past and will continue to do so, "he said.

"We have asked the Dutch Consul that the Netherlands, as an influential state, participate in the restoration of Shangal. If the city is rebuilt, our people will return to their lands. So far, the reconstruction process in Shangal is going badly.”

Moreover, he added that the agreement between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (PKK), announced in October with the support of the UN, is a positive development. "If this is implemented, our people will return to their city," he said.

The plan includes security, the establishment of a legitimate civil administration, reconstruction, rehabilitation of services and the return of displaced persons. It also provides for the withdrawal of illegal armed groups from Shangal.

However, Hazim beg noted that it will take time before the agreement can be implemented with the support of the United States and Baghdad.

Moreover, Baba Sheikh, a Yazidi religious leader, said that any agreement in Shangal must ensure the rights of Yazidis, and not just focus on politics. "Any agreement, ensuring security, must guarantee the interests of the Yazidis.

If there is no international support, the situation in Shangal will not be resolved—and we demand its resolution. Shangal has been neglected for too long. "Today, Shangal is destroyed, and almost nothing remains of it. Speaking of 400-500,000 people, you will find that almost all of them have lost everything important in their lives. If people return to the city, they will not have a house to settle in, they can put up a tent—and this is no different from camps, " he added.

Moreover, he added that there are no jobs, buildings, or livelihoods in the Shangal area, and those in the camps do not have the money to afford even food.

Baba Sheikh said that his house in Shangal is still destroyed, but he prefers that the house of the poor be rebuilt before him. Baba Sheikh said he was happy to receive the Dutch consul. "The Netherlands has supported us before; this visit is encouraging because the Dutch are attentive to the Yazidis, otherwise this visit would not have taken place.”