Reparation: Integration and Legal Pathways
It has been almost ten years since the brutal genocide and mass displacement of the Ezidi community in Iraq at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS). The violence, perils of displacement, and the routes many were forced to take to find safety separated countless Ezidi families, including one of the authors’ own. For a people that have lived together as a close-knit community for centuries, this nearly decade-long forced separation is a wound that has not healed. Mothers remain displaced from their own children, men from their aging parents. It has held families back as they try to rebuild their lives. And it has forced families to make impossible choices to take dangerous journeys to pursue the chance to reunite. It is far past time to give Ezidi families a chance to recover—together.
Therefore we the Ezidi community represented by International federation of independent Ezidi associations through the collective efforts of our members and with support from local and International organizations, we are committed to advocate demand for family reunification programs for Ezidi families—pathways that would allow for direct travel for a more expanded group of relatives on faster timelines, we believe this would be concrete evidence of EU state commitment to restoration as we approach a decade since the genocide.
Family unification and legal pathways is a clear demand from our people, as we are witnessing thousands of our people crossing borders seeking peace and stability. In late 2023, our member Voice of Ezidis with support from Refugees International, visited refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, interviewed Ezidis who made harrowing journeys through Türkiye to Greece. For many Ezidi survivors from the historically tight-knit community, family reunification was among their primary concerns.
Following that Voice of Ezidis published a joint report that outlines clear
steps for the EU and member states to unite and integrate Ezidi families.
The new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is an opportunity to pilot policies that will better support Ezidis seeking protection in Europe. Ten years after the genocide, it’s time to help Ezidi families find durable solutions. Therefore, we adapt the recommendations in this report and are committed to its advancement.
