SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United Kingdom on Tuesday formally acknowledged that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, according to an announcement.
The announcement comes ahead of events marking the nine year anniversary of atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yazidi people.
“The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh nine years ago and the repercussions are still felt to this day. Justice and accountability are key for those whose lives have been devastated,” said the UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad.
“Today we have made the historic acknowledgment that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people. This determination only strengthens our commitment to ensuring that they receive the compensation owed to them and are able to access meaningful justice,” he said.
The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority in eastern Syria and northwest Iraq that Islamic State viewed as supposed devil worshippers for their faith that combines Zoroastrian, Christian, Manichean, Jewish and Muslim beliefs.
The jihadist group killed thousands of Yazidis, enslaved 7,000 Yazidi women and girls and displaced most of the 550,000-strong community from their ancestral home in northern Iraq.
Britain, which officially recognises only four other historic instances, including the Holocaust as genocide, said it would continue to help lead global efforts against IS propaganda.
