KRG Renews Call for Implementation of Sinjar Agreement on Yazidi Genocide Anniversary

Peregraf

On the anniversary of the occupation of Sinjar and the genocide of Yazidi civilians by ISIS, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani paid tribute to the victims and renewed calls for justice, security, and reconstruction in the region.

“The massacre of our Yazidi brothers and sisters remains a deep wound in the history of the Kurdish people and all of humanity,” Barzani said in a statement, commemorating the thousands killed or kidnapped during the August 2014 attacks.

Eleven years ago, ISIS militants surged out of Syria and swept across northern Iraq, capturing Mosul in June 2014. By August, they had advanced on Sinjar. Accounts of the atrocities revealed that up to 5,000 Yazidis were killed, 6,417 kidnapped, and 350,000 displaced. To this day, tens of thousands of Yazidi IDPs remain in camps across the Kurdistan Region.

Barzani praised the bravery of the Peshmerga forces, led by President Masoud Barzani, who liberated Sinjar and surrounding areas. He also thanked the people of Kurdistan—especially those in Duhok governorate and the Badinan region—for sheltering and supporting Yazidi survivors.

Despite these efforts, the Prime Minister warned that Sinjar remains politically unstable and underserved. 

“Due to the failure to implement the Sinjar Agreement and the undesirable situation imposed on the area, rebuilding efforts have stalled and essential services are lacking,” Barzani said.

Signed in October 2020 between the Iraqi federal government and the KRG, the Sinjar Agreement was intended to establish a new local administration, expel unauthorized armed groups, and coordinate security through local police and federal forces. But implementation has largely stalled, and many Yazidis have criticized the process for ignoring their input.

Barzani emphasized the urgent need for Baghdad to fulfill its responsibilities:

• Implement the Sinjar Agreement

• Ensure the removal of militias and armed forces from the district

• Compensate survivors

• Support the voluntary and dignified return of Yazidis to their homes.

He also reiterated the KRG’s continuing efforts to locate the missing, rescue those still in captivity, and provide financial support to survivors.

In addition to the Sinjar Agreement, Iraq’s Yazidi Female Survivors Law, which went into force in 2021, aims to provide mental health services, reintegration, and legal support to Yazidi and other minority survivors of ISIS atrocities. The law also underscores the need to identify and rescue those still unaccounted for. 

“We salute the souls of the martyrs of Sinjar and all martyrs of Kurdistan,” Barzani concluded.