Amnesty puts out short film on enslaved Yazidi ISIS child soldiers

2022/02/04-1645251834.jpg
Read: 3772     15:00     19 Февраль 2022    

The 12-minute documentary “Captives on the Frontlines: Yazidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS” was filmed last year.

The horror that faced Yazidi boys as young as seven who were forced to train and fight as Islamic State (ISIS) soldiers is driven home in a short film in which two victims recall their experiences.

Forced to convert to Islam or die, the young children were told that their families and community were "infidels" and they should be prepared to kill them.

Put out by Amnesty International, the 12-minute documentary “Captives on the Frontlines: Yazidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS” shows the friendship between Vian and Barzan, two young men who were abducted as boys by ISIS in 2014, indoctrinated into the armed group and forced to fight.

Both escaped and are now living in northern Iraq, where the documentary was filmed last year.

Until they got away in 2018 with the help of smugglers, the two boys survived by pretending to go along with their captors, though one was later suspected of not abandoning his Yazidi faith and was imprisoned and beaten daily.

Today though physically free, the film makes clear that both young men are damaged mentally, and one is subject to frequent headaches.  Each appears to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which given their brutal four-year captivity is hardly surprising.

Amnesty is using the documentary to press for greater action by the Iraqi authorities.

"To date, many Yazidi survivors have still not received adequate support for their physical health, mental health or education” said Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International's Crisis Response team. “Indeed, many have not received support of any kind since they returned to their communities.

"The Iraqi authorities, their international partners and the United Nations must ensure that Yazidi former child soldiers have full access to the reparations and assistance to which they are entitled under Iraq's Yazidi Survivors Law (2021).”

Waldman continued: "They must also work together to establish a National Action Plan mandating that all current and former child soldiers in Iraq, including Yazidi boys and young men, are reintegrated into society and provided with coordinated, specialized and long-term support."

Source-thearabweekly.com

 





Tags: #yazidis   #yezids   #ezidi   #sindjar   #shangal  



Amnesty puts out short film on enslaved Yazidi ISIS child soldiers

2022/02/04-1645251834.jpg
Read: 3773     15:00     19 Февраль 2022    

The 12-minute documentary “Captives on the Frontlines: Yazidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS” was filmed last year.

The horror that faced Yazidi boys as young as seven who were forced to train and fight as Islamic State (ISIS) soldiers is driven home in a short film in which two victims recall their experiences.

Forced to convert to Islam or die, the young children were told that their families and community were "infidels" and they should be prepared to kill them.

Put out by Amnesty International, the 12-minute documentary “Captives on the Frontlines: Yazidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS” shows the friendship between Vian and Barzan, two young men who were abducted as boys by ISIS in 2014, indoctrinated into the armed group and forced to fight.

Both escaped and are now living in northern Iraq, where the documentary was filmed last year.

Until they got away in 2018 with the help of smugglers, the two boys survived by pretending to go along with their captors, though one was later suspected of not abandoning his Yazidi faith and was imprisoned and beaten daily.

Today though physically free, the film makes clear that both young men are damaged mentally, and one is subject to frequent headaches.  Each appears to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which given their brutal four-year captivity is hardly surprising.

Amnesty is using the documentary to press for greater action by the Iraqi authorities.

"To date, many Yazidi survivors have still not received adequate support for their physical health, mental health or education” said Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International's Crisis Response team. “Indeed, many have not received support of any kind since they returned to their communities.

"The Iraqi authorities, their international partners and the United Nations must ensure that Yazidi former child soldiers have full access to the reparations and assistance to which they are entitled under Iraq's Yazidi Survivors Law (2021).”

Waldman continued: "They must also work together to establish a National Action Plan mandating that all current and former child soldiers in Iraq, including Yazidi boys and young men, are reintegrated into society and provided with coordinated, specialized and long-term support."

Source-thearabweekly.com

 





Tags: #yazidis   #yezids   #ezidi   #sindjar   #shangal