Yazda NGO, a Yazidi rights organization in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: SM
BAGHDAD,— According to a Sunni source from Baghdad, Yazda group that is allegedly tied to Iran has recently been shut down in Iraqi Kurdistan for violating NGO rules in the region.
The Duhok Governor in Iraqi Kurdistan recently stated: “The Yazda organization has been shut down for a number of reasons including the use of its humanitarian license to undertake political activities which is completely contrary to its license. Yazda has been adopting a radically politically oriented media rhetoric against the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG.”
The Iraqi source told JerusalemOnline that the Yazda group is allegedly backed by Iran and seeks to evacuate all Yazidis from Mosul to the Syrian border. The source claims that such an exodus of Yazidis makes it easier for Iran to control the region: “The Shia militias are already in Tel Afar and they are moving to Mosul. From there, they can have the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline and connect the Shia crescent to the Mediterranean. That way, it will be easy for them to bring stuff from Iran into Syria. Yazda is their strongest proxy that operates under a humanitarian mission in order to encourage people to migrate and they use their UN Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad in order to accomplish this goal.”
The Yazidi rights organization, Yazda, said in press release on January 18, that it has reached a deal with the KRG with regards to reopening its offices in Iraq’s Kurdish region.
According to the source, Nadia Murad has traveled around the world in order to find places of refuge for misplaced Yazidis in the West: “Yazda and Nadia Murad visited Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Scotland, the United States, Spain and other places, asking each country to take in several thousand Yazidis.
Germany already took in 1,100 rescued Yazidi victims by ISIS but the German program left many Yazidi victims behind and non-displaced Yazidis operating under Dr. Mirza Dinaye, the uncle of Mirzad Ismael, the founder of Yazda, were sent there instead. Mirza Dinaye, Murad Ismael and other family members were provided visas and German permanent residency via this program. 30 of his family members are already in Germany and they are not displaced persons nor were they captured by ISIS.”
The Iraqi source in Baghdad stated: “Mr. Dinaye was a former advisor to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. He is well connected to Mrs. Hero I. Ahmad, a close ally of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Al Quds Force Commander, and this is clear proof of the connection between Yazda and Iran. On the other hand, Abu Shuja the smuggler, who is a nephew of Mr. Mirza Dinaye, received millions of dollars from the KRG for his efforts in rescuing Yazidi women but the KRG stopped to reimburse Abu Shuja following corruption allegations. He went to Germany through the same program along with his two wives and all of his children while the victims were left behind in displaced persons camps.”
A Yazidi source told JerusalemOnline: “It is well known that Yazda has been promoting immigration for Yazidis and has been campaigning internationally to influence world leaders to uproot Yazidis from their homeland and traditional religious lands through migration. This is in direct contrast to the desires being communicated by Yazidi religious and community leaders and their requests for community based recovery programs.” In an interview with CBC, a spokeswoman for Masoud Barzani stated: “Yazidis are an indigenous minority and the Kurdish Regional Government is against any organized attempt to mass migrate members of its community. Prime Minister Barzani thinks the aid and support should be delivered to them in their country.”
Yazda was established in 2015 in the northern Kurdish city of Duhok and has provided emergency aid, including psychological care, to Yazidi women and girls upon their rescue. They also provide education and training to create opportunities for women and girls to build stable, self-sufficient futures.
Islamic State group has captured most parts of the Yazidi Sinjar district in northwest Iraq on August 3, 2014 which led thousands of Kurdish families to flee to Mount Sinjar, where they were trapped in it and suffered from significant lack of water and food, killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidis as well as rape and captivity of thousands of women.
According to Human Rights organizations, thousands of Yazidi women and girls have been forced to marry or been sold into sexual slavery by the IS jihadists.
According to Yazidi member of Iraqi parliament Vian Dakhil 3,770 Kurdish Yazidi women and children still in Islamic State captivity.
Source: http://ekurd.net/kurdistan-yazda-iran-ties-2017-01-26