Yazidi woman rescued from IS in Gaza arrives in Germany

HANOVER, Germany,— A Yazidi woman previously enslaved by the Islamic State (ISIS) and later transferred to Gaza has arrived in Germany on Tuesday after a secret rescue operation.

Fawzia Amin Sido, 21, was abducted by ISIS militants in August 2014 from her home in Sinjar, Iraq, just weeks before her 11th birthday.

Over the next decade, she endured forced slavery, sexual violence, and forced marriage to a Palestinian ISIS fighter in Syria. She was later moved to Turkey and eventually to Gaza, where she was expected to live with the family of her captor.

Rescue Operation Involving Multiple Countries

Sido’s was rescued on October 1, 2024, in a covert operation led by the United States in Gaza. The mission was carried out with cooperation from Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and the United Nations.

Upon her arrival at Hanover Airport at approximately 5:00 p.m. local time, she was greeted by her guardian, Ghareeba Hagman, along with relatives and human rights activists, according to a report from Voice of America VOA.

“Fawzia arrived safely in Germany and feels a great sense of relief,” Hagman told VOA. “The first thing she said when she got off the plane was, ‘Please make sure my family members can come here and live with me.’”

Family Remains in Sinjar

The German consulate in Baghdad issued Sido a humanitarian visa on January 10. However, her mother, grandmother, and five siblings remain in Sinjar.

According to Hagman, most of Sido’s family members wish to relocate to Germany, with the exception of two sisters, but the German government has stated it will only accept Sido.

“There is no legal obligation for Germany to take her in, but they did so on humanitarian grounds, and for that, we are grateful,” Hagman said.

Germany is one of the world’s largest hosts of refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. The country has accepted nearly 2.5 million refugees, including over a million Ukrainians and hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Following the 2014 ISIS genocide against the Yazidis, more than 200,000 Yazidis have sought refuge in Germany.

Concerns Over Deportations

Despite Germany’s historical role in providing asylum, ongoing discussions about deporting refugees have raised concerns among Yazidis. Some German politicians argue that Iraq’s security situation has improved since ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2017, and that the country should now handle its displaced population.

In a recent move, German authorities announced the deportation of 47 Iraqi nationals whose asylum claims had been denied. According to organizations monitoring the issue, around 700 Iraqis have been deported in 2024 so far, with approximately 10,000 others at risk of removal.

Hagman, who is also Yazidi, said Germany’s deportation policies have left many Yazidi asylum seekers fearful and uncertain about their future.

There are no official figures on the number of Yazidis deported from Germany, but Hagman estimated that at least five Yazidis had been sent back to Iraq or Kurdistan.

“Yazidis who come to Germany want to rebuild their lives, but many struggle to learn a new language due to the psychological trauma they have suffered,” she said.

Limited Support for Rescued Yazidis

While Sido received assistance through official channels, many Yazidis who have escaped captivity are left with little support and are forced to enter Germany through unofficial means. Without legal protections, they are more vulnerable to deportation and lengthy detention, Hagman said.

In January 2023, the German parliament officially recognized the crimes committed by ISIS against Yazidis as genocide. Since then, some federal states, including North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, have enacted laws offering Yazidi asylum seekers additional protections.

Hagman stressed the importance of long-term psychological and social support for rescued Yazidi women, particularly survivors of sexual violence.

“That opportunity does not exist in Iraq or Kurdistan,” she said. “Just two days after Fawzia arrived in Germany, we arranged a psychological counseling session to help her regain her independence and start a new life.”

Lack of Psychological Support in Iraq

Human rights organizations, including the Canada-based Christian and Yazidi Children’s Rescue Organization (CYCI), assisted in Sido’s relocation.

CYCI members told Voice of America that after Sido’s initial rescue from Gaza, she faced neglect from the Iraqi government and was even targeted by Shiite militias.

“She kept saying, ‘I was taken from one hell and put into another,’” said David Jjou, a CYCI representative.

Activists claim that weeks after returning to Sinjar, Sido and her family faced threats from Iraqi forces after an international media outlet published a report in which she acknowledged Israel’s role in her rescue.

As of this report’s publication, Iraqi officials have not responded to requests for comment on her case.

Steve Maman, CYCI’s founder, told Voice of America that Sido was repeatedly questioned by Iraqi authorities, who suspected her of being an Israeli agent.

“Fawzia has not received any psychological support in Sinjar. The government has made no efforts to help her. Yazidis are treated as second-class citizens in their own country,” Maman said.

Lingering Effects of the Yazidi Genocide

In August 2014, ISIS militants launched a large-scale attack on Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, a region home to hundreds of thousands of Yazidis. The offensive followed the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by then-Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani.

As a result, thousands of Yazidi families fled to Mount Sinjar, where they became trapped without food or water. Those who could not escape were either killed or abducted, with thousands of Yazidi women subjected to systematic rape and enslavement.

An estimated 10,000 Yazidis were killed in the attack, while more than 6,800 women and children were taken captive, according to official statistics from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Unpublished reports suggest that 18,000 Peshmerga fighters were stationed in Sinjar at the time of the ISIS assault but withdrew without offering resistance.

Most Yazidis lost trust in the ruling Barzani family after the KDP Peshmerga forces failed to protect them from ISIS in 2014, leading to the genocide of Yazidis in the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq.

While several thousand Yazidis have been rescued since 2014, approximately 3,000 remain missing, according to KRG data.

The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious group, trace their origins to ancient Mesopotamia and draw influence from Zoroastrianism and Sufism. Their faith is regarded as heretical by the radical Islamic State (ISIS).

Yazidi woman recalls IS abuse after Gaza rescue in Arabic, interview by VOA.

((With files from Voice of America)