NEWS CENTER - Sual Seyfo Xelef, who was liberated by QSD after being taken captive with her family during the 74th Edict against Yazidis, has been looking for her captive daughter for 5 years without any news from her. 

 

It has been 10 years since the 74th Edict against Yazidis. Thousands of Yazidis lost their lives in the massacre committed by ISIS in Shengal on August 3, 2014. Thousands of kidnapped women were either slaughtered or sold in slave markets. While the KDP and Iraqi forces quickly left the region during the massacre, tens of thousands of Yazidis who took refuge on Mount Shengal were able to escape thanks to a corridor opened by a group of 12 HPG fighters. Although 10 years have passed, the fate of many Yazidis is still unknown. 

 

One of the families captured by ISIS during the attacks was the Xelef family. Sual Seyfo Xelef, from the village of Girzêrik, was captured while trying to reach Mount Shengal with her family. After being captured, Xelef was taken to Syria by ISIS militants. For years, Xelef had to hide the fact that she is a Yazidi for fear of being sold in slave markets or killed. In this process, she was separated from her family. After the defeat of ISIS, Xelef was taken to Hol Camp along with thousands of ISIS members and their families. 

 

Xelef was rescued by the Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD) forces in 2019 after she told the security forces that she is a Yazidi. After her rescue, Xelef was resettled in her hometown of Shengal. At the same time, Xelef's relatives were also liberated from ISIS and brought back to Shengal. However, the fate of Xelef's daughter, who was only 2 years old when she was captured, is still uncertain. Xelef's only wish is to hear from her daughter, who was captured by ISIS and is now 12 years old.  

 

ISIS CAPTIVITY

 

Xelef told Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about her experiences on the occasion of the 74th Edict anniversary. Emphasizing that she will never forget what she went through, "On the first day of the Edict, we set out to reach Mount Shengal. ISIS ambushed us and took us prisoner. As soon as we were captured, they brought us to Shengal. They gathered all the captives. They separated women, youth and children. They held us in Shengal for 2-3 days. After the airplanes bombed the area where we were, they took us to Badush Prison. Only a few women and children were left there" Xelef said.

 

Stating that they were constantly taken to different places as the bombardment continued, Xelef said that women who refused to convert to Islam were subjected to severe torture. Xelef said: "They were separating girls in the places we were taken to. We stayed in Tilafer for 23-24 days. They said, 'We will reunite those who convert to Islam with their families and give them houses. Those who accepted Islam were taken to their children. Then we were rounded up and taken to the village of Kesîrmehreb. Then we were taken to Mosul."

 

SEPARATED FROM HER FAMILY IN RAQQA

 

Xelef explained what happened afterwards as follows: "We stayed in Mosul for 25 days. They told us, 'If you want to do a separate job, tell us and we will take them to Tilafer. 50 of us there were from the same family and they took us to Tal Afar. We stayed in Tal Afar for 4 months. They sent the old and disabled people to Iraq and sold them there. Thirteen people from my family were captured. My mother-in-law was left there and we were left with 12 people. One day they gathered all the prisoners again. They tied the hands and blindfolded the men and took them away. We never saw them after that. They gathered 8 and 12 year old children and took them away. After 6 days in a madrasa, they took them to Syria. We stayed with them in Syria for 40 days and then one by one they separated us from each other. That is when they separated me from my family. We were in Raqqa when they separated us. They took me to Tedmur. Then they took me to Meyadîn, Hajîn and Shahba." 

 

Stating that they sold some of the women they stayed with in the market, Xelef said: "They were telling us, 'If you convert to Islam, we will let you go'. But there was no such thing. Many women accepted to save their children. But even though they accepted, they would not let them go. The problem was not just converting a Yazidi to Islam. Many women and children are still missing. We don't know if these people were killed or if they are still in prison." Pointing out that many of the survivors of ISIS had to go to Europe, "Because what they went through was not easy" she said 

 

 

BACK HOME

 

Stating that she was also rescued after a long wait, Xelef explained the process as follows: "In 2019, I was in the city of Bahoz and we were surrounded. The family I was staying with told me we were going to Hol Camp. I was not supposed to say that I am a Yazidi. They told me, 'If you say you are an Yazidi, they will sell you in the markets and send you to other countries. There was a person I met in Bahoz. There were three Yazidis there, and they went and told the security services, 'We are Yazidis. That day, at 00.20 at night, the Rojava security surrounded the camp and rescued us. Asayish asked us, 'Why didn't you say you were Yazidis at first? We told them we were scared. After they registered us, they took us to a Yazidi home in Syria. Then they brought us to Iraq and handed us over to our families." 

 

LOOKING FOR HIS DAUGHTER 

 

Saying that she has been waiting for years for his 12-year-old daughter to be rescued, Xelef said: "We were rescued, but things have not changed yet. Because we still have children and relatives in captivity. My daughter is still in their hands. My daughter was 2 years old when they captured her. There is not a single day that I do not think about her. In this situation, how can I enjoy this life, how can I call it beautiful? They separated my daughter from me in Shahba. I saw her sometimes, but after we moved to Bahoz, we completely lost touch. Once they sent me her photo and told me, 'We will bring her to you'. But she still hasn't been brought to me. Now my daughter is 12 years old, I don't know what she is doing, whether she is alive or not. I keep my eyes and ears on the road, waiting for news." 

 

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut