30/08/2026
Twelve years after ISIS attacked Sinjar, thousands of Yazidi families are still waiting for the most basic answer: What happened to our loved ones?
More than 2,500 abducted Yazidis remain missing. Behind that number are mothers, fathers, children, siblings and friends whose lives have been suspended between hope and grief.
Some families have finally received identified remains and been able to bury their loved ones with dignity. Others are still waiting—for excavations, DNA identification, legal recognition, compensation, and above all, the truth.
Farida Khalaf, President of Farida Global Organization, knows both realities:
“I was able to bury my father, my brother and my uncle. Yet other members of my family are still missing. Every family deserves to know the fate of their loved ones.”
Khalid Salih, Regional Director of Farida Global Organization, carries the same unanswered loss:
“My cousin and close friend was abducted on 3 August 2014, and I am still waiting to hear anything about his fate. These are not cases or statistics. They are people whose absence continues to shape our families every single day.”
The search is too slow. The identification process is too slow. The legal road families must navigate is too long.
Twelve years is already too long.
Iraq must accelerate mass-grave investigations, DNA identification, family tracing, legal recognition and access to rights. Families must be informed, respected and included throughout the process.
The missing cannot become forgotten files.
They have names.
They have families.
They have rights.
And their families have the right to know.
Until the fate of the last missing person is established, the search for truth, dignity and justice is not over.
