Yazidis Return Home to Face Economic Blockade

It was only after the IS group was pushed out of Sinjar in November 2015 by forces consisting of Iraqi Kurdish military from the nearby semi-autonomous region, an international coalition that provided air strikes and armed Yazidi factions, that the anti-IS alliance began to break down. The fighters affiliated with the PKK began to take control of government departments and other official buildings and paid no heed to calls from the head of the KDP, Massoud Barzani, to withdraw from the town.

The roots of this conflict are complicated and date back to August 2014, when the Iraqi Kurdish military fled in the face of the approaching IS fighters, leaving the local Yazidis, who they were meant to be protecting, alone. And that was after years of the KDP currying the favour of local Yazidis, in attempts to gain voters, members and extend their reach into this nearby area and related ethno-religious group. It was no wonder then, that the Yazidis felt betrayed by the KDP – and later, more than grateful to fighters affiliated with the PKK, who did come to their aid.

PKK-affiliated militias, many from inside the Kurdish-majority parts of Syria, held off the IS group and opened up a humanitarian corridor that allowed Yazidi families under siege, living out in the open, to make their way into safe areas in Syria. This kind of gratitude led many Yazidis who wanted to fight against the IS group, to join up with PKK-affiliated fighting groups. But of course, this enthusiasm has also made the Barzani-led KDP nervous – they are losing even more influence, despite the fact that they control some parts of Sinjar militarily now.

And that is why the KDP-associated troops are making life as difficult as possible for those they see as their political opponents.