Yezidi Emergency Support (Y.E.S) is a charity organisation registered in Britain. Members of this organisation have been working together since the beginning of the huge exodus from West Asia to Europe, firstly in Greece when the refugee crisis was at its peak and then when Europe barred it doors to migrants and refugees found themselves in terrible situation in camps in mainland Europe.
Anne Norona, the founder of Y.E.S, recently informed Boundless Ocean of Politics about the organisation’s aim and activities. Boundless Ocean of Politics is publishing Norona’s view with permission of Y.E.S.

Anne Norona

The Y.E.S team has a unique mix of skills, with many Yezidi key workers and doctors living and working in Kurdistan, Iraq and Europe. This gives us unprecedented access to all Yezidi areas and ensures that we can verify situations and cases in need almost immediately and on a daily basis. The team also consists of international humanitarians who either consult on medical issues or help with fundraising. We are currently processing our registration via Baghdad, but understand this may take some time.
At this present moment, the situation in Sinjar is critical with a population of almost 60,000 – including those of surrounding villages – and many lives are potentially in danger. There is no fully functioning hospital in Sinjar, where (prior to the Kurdistan referendum) the patient population flow per 24 hours was averaging 270 in Shingal hospital alone. For three years (after the destruction of Shingal by ISIS), the hospital has remained in a state of disrepair.
Shingal hospital re-opened a few weeks ago with one doctor (a Yezidi member of Y.E.S, but employed by DORCAS NGO) and around five nurses. The current patient population is around 320 per 24 hours. The medics are struggling with working in a run down three-bedded emergency unit with next to no equipment.
Sinone hospital is in the same situation with little medicine to treat patients and no specialist doctors or surgical facility. Most NGOs have left due to the blockade between borders and warring factions. The nearest surgical facility was in Duhok – a three-hour drive – but (post Kurdish referendum) the road has been blockaded, leaving the Yezidi population of Sinjar almost besieged as the road to Kurdistan via Mosul is long and dangerous.

There is no emergency or surgical cover in Shingal with no ambulances operational in the city or for the surrounding villages. Reportedly some ambulances, funded by CAPNI NGO, will be arriving soon. This is an area where trauma cases are common due to IED explosions, car accidents, gunshot wounds and general injuries. There is no provision for pregnant women who may require caesarean sections or for emergency surgery. There is no X-ray facility, blood bank, blood analysis, ECG, defib or ultrasound in Shingal.
Those – who suffer heart attacks, strokes or who suffer from chronic diseases, such as epilepsy, diabetes and hypertension – are unable to obtain regular access to vital monitoring, blood testing or medication. There is a huge risk of disease and infection especially to the most vulnerable newborn and elderly due to no vaccinations, poor sanitation and lack of water. The most common illnesses are gastro enteritis, but risks include hepatitis, polio, measles, gastro enteritis and pneumonia.
The current vaccination programme has ceased (although due only to pleas from the medics, UNICEF began vaccinating this week) and shamefully many children have never been vaccinated, leaving them susceptible to very serious life-threatening diseases. There is also no anti-tetanus and no anti-scorpion or anti-rabies venom. The general health of the population of around 30,000 in and around Shingal city (up to 60,000 counting Sardashte camp and surrounding areas) is poor with malnutrition responsible for chronic conditions, such as anaemia, lowered immunity, lethargy and dental problems.

There is a distinct lack of NGO presence in the Sinjar area and the people feel completed abandoned, and rightly so. Aid is rarely seen or distributed. Their children have to walk and hitch a lift the 20km to school, often waiting for two hours in the freezing cold. The same on the return journey.
There is a critical lack of kerosene, meaning they cannot keep themselves warm. There is sporadic electricity and clean water and little access to medical care especially for those with chronic diseases.
The situation since 2014 for the Yezidis just goes from bad to worse with seemingly no hope of international protection and with 360,000 forced to remain in tented camps in Kurdistan the future remains bleak. Unemployment remains at around 75% and access to education especially university education is restricted due to location of camps and poverty.
This is one of the most peaceful, persecuted and unique ethnic minorities in the world, seemingly abandoned or seen as collateral damage……in wars never caused by them.
Apart from a few programmes from countries which have taken a very tiny percentage (with the exception of Germany) of vulnerable Yezidis, other countries have done nothing. The UK, as an example, has not allowed a single Yezidi in since 2014 despite a worldwide recognition of their genocide.
Perhaps though the very saddest part of all is that no country has actively sought to free the over 3,000 captured women, children and men kidnapped and repeatedly sold by the ISIS three years ago. Despite the knowledge that many were in the possession of ISIS fighters allowed to escape from strongholds such as Raqqa… the world has turned a blind eye!
This is truly a tragedy which will never be forgotten by those who have been affected. The world will be collectively responsible, if as a consequence of neglect this much in need minority is lost as a functioning society.
I am ashamed to be part of such a world.

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Boundless Ocean of Politics. Boundless Ocean of Politics makes no representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in any News, Research, Analysis or Opinion provided in this article. Under no circumstances will Boundless Ocean of Politics, its employees, agents or affiliates be held liable by any person or entity for decisions made or actions taken by any person or entity that relies upon the information provided in this article.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das