Terrible massacres were committed against them
Yazidis in Iraq struggle to return to normal life
The Yazidis have not forgotten the wounds caused by the terrorist organization ISIS.
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The war against the terrorist organization ISIS seems like a nightmare from the past, but only two and a half years ago, the last stronghold of the organization fell to the Americans and their allies, in the Syrian region of Baghouz. It was a victory after nearly five years of a war that saw fighting and massacres all over the world; From Damascus to Baghdad, and from Paris to San Bernardino. In the same month that Baghouz fell, approximately 100 miles away, exhumations of victims of one of the worst atrocities committed by ISIS began in a mass grave in Kojo, near Sinjar in Iraq.
On August 3, 2014, the terrorist organization launched a campaign of genocide, in Kocho, executed hundreds of Yazidis, and enslaved hundreds of other women and children.
It was their plight that brought America into the war for the first time, and the first American air strikes were launched four days after the Kojo massacre.
But it was too late for many of the people living under ISIS;
By the end of that year, not only the lives of the Yezidis had been destroyed, but also, some of the world's oldest Christian communities.
Hundreds of thousands of traumatized survivors huddled in makeshift camps, or unfinished buildings, behind the fragile security of the Kurdish frontline.
It is important not to forget
Today, after seven years and a pandemic, it is important that we not forget the genocide perpetrated by the extremist organization, nor what the United States has done to make things right. This is not just a victory for weapons, but also a victory for reconstruction and renewal, something that is often overlooked, even in the most just war. In the aftermath of liberation, we find broken communities, horrified survivors, and neighbors who do not trust them. Rebuilding requires resources, commitment and patience. Efforts to rehabilitate the fractured communities of northern Iraq fall largely on the shoulders of the US Agency for International Development. At first, things didn't go well. Misunderstandings of the problem, disagreements over priorities, bureaucratic challenges, and legal confusion combined to render early efforts ineffective. But we learned from those early missteps, and after bouts and painful impressions, the engine of US foreign aid accelerated with commitment.
The lessons my colleagues and I learned during the genocide recovery effort, in northern Iraq, are important not only for what they can teach America about this specific effort, but for future responses around the world.
And there will be future reactions: Whether in Nigeria, Burma, or China, the ravages of religious persecution continue unabated.
The most important thing we have learned is that survivors themselves should be an essential part of planning and implementing recovery.
US government donor agencies prefer to work through major UN organizations, non-profit organizations, and for-profit contractors who speak English, write excellent proposals, and have the financial capacity to comply with onerous reporting and audit requirements.
Many of these groups do well, but they are not without flaws.
The biggest is that locals often view them as foreign organizations that are uninterested and not well connected to the communities in which they operate.
Rehabilitation
In the early days of recovery, in 2017 and early 2018, USAID relied heavily on the United Nations Development Program to rehabilitate power plants, schools, and health clinics.
UNDP did an acceptable job, in general.
But Iraqis viewed him as ignoring local voices in favor of those of the Baghdad government, which abandoned them in favor of ISIS in 2014. Indeed, the UN's often weak respect for government structures is an institutional weakness, preventing its arms operational in order to better meet the needs of local communities.
Only when USAID began diversifying its partners to include smaller Iraqi groups within the same communities, such as the Assyrian Aid Society in Iraq and the Nadia Initiative, did local views of recovery efforts begin to change.
There is no evidence
If the societies that the United States spends millions on rebuilding do not believe the United States is active, the effort will not succeed.
Until the summer of 2018, USAID waived the requirement to put the agency's logo on its activities, as a result of which there was no clear evidence that the United States was doing anything at all.
In addition, security threats have kept US diplomats largely confined to apartment blocks in Baghdad or Erbil, unable to visit local communities.
Another lesson
Another lesson my colleagues and I learned while recovering from the genocide, in northern Iraq, is that security trumps everything.
And if people don't feel safe going home, it doesn't matter that roads have been cleared of rubble, electricity is restored, or health and education services are available.
Unfortunately, to this day, America and its partner, the Iraqi government, have not yet figured out how to defeat the diverse array of gangs, terrorists, and militias that continue to attack ordinary citizens in Sinjar, Tel Kaif, and many other cities.
The low-intensity conflict between the United States and Iran-backed militias, or the ephemeral agreements with Baghdad, did not change the calculations families must make: Will we be safe if we go home?
The Yazidis have long memories, and they can talk about more than 70 genocides that their people have been subjected to over the centuries.
They know that the genocide perpetrated by ISIS may not be the last.
Christians, too, have witnessed a decrease in their number in Iraq, from 1.4 million in 1987 to no less than 200,000 today.
America and its allies should be proud of their victory over a truly evil enemy, ISIS, and they should be proud of their efforts to bring the victims back from the brink.
Hallam Ferguson ■ Fellow of Public Policy at the Wilson Center. He worked as an official in the US Agency for International Development's Middle East office.
70 genocides suffered by the Yazidis over the centuries.
• Efforts to rehabilitate fractured communities in northern Iraq fall largely on the shoulders of the US Agency for International Development.
• If the societies, which the United States spends millions on rebuilding, do not believe that the United States is active, the efforts will not succeed.
• Security threats have kept US diplomats largely confined to apartment blocks in Baghdad or Erbil, unable to visit local communities.
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