Yazidis Could See Lasting Stability in Iraq 14 Years After ISIS Genocide

Fourteen years after ISIS swept into Iraq's Sinjar region and launched a genocidal campaign against the Yazidi minority, the community may be nearing a measure of stability. A planned security arrangement between Baghdad and a Yazidi armed group is at the center of that hope.

Most Yazidis live in Sinjar, in northern Iraq, or in towns within governorates of the Kurdistan Regional Government. In August 2014, ISIS invaded Sinjar and massacred thousands of Yazidis. The group also kidnapped thousands more and sold them into slavery, in one of the most horrific crimes it committed. Sinjar, which Yazidis also call Shingal, covers a long mountain, a city of the same name and numerous Yazidi villages to the north and south of the mountain.

Many Yazidis fled to the mountain during the genocide. Others were saved when the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria helped open a corridor for them to escape. Sinjar was liberated in November 2015. Since then, many Yazidis have stayed in camps for displaced people in the Kurdistan region, while others have slowly returned to impoverished lives in Sinjar.

The area has largely been neglected by Iraq. In 2017, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, who had helped drive out ISIS, were pushed aside by Iraqi federal troops and Iranian-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The Yazidis stayed, but remained divided. Some joined the Shingal Protection Units (YBS), which is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). That put them in the sights of Turkey, which regards the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Now the situation is shifting. Rudaw, a Kurdish media outlet, reported on October 24 that Murad Ismael, a Yazidi activist and Iraqi lawmaker, said on Saturday that YBS members would be absorbed into several Iraqi security bodies, including the police. He rejected suggestions that all fighters would move into the PMF. "The integration process is not limited to the PMF, only a portion of it, with part of it being integrated into the police and part of it into other security structures," Ismael said.

His remarks followed an interview with state media on Friday in which Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the YBS would be integrated into the PMF as part of an agreement to restore federal control over Sinjar. Ismael appeared to indicate the process would begin within days, and he said he expected the YBS's all-female force to join the Interior Ministry's Community Police. Iraq has said it wants other militias integrated by June 2027.

For weeks there has been talk of a deal. Iraq aims to rein in all independent militias, including Iranian-backed groups, though those are stronger and more influential. Baghdad appears to view the Yazidis as a group it can work with, and possibly as a model for bringing an independent armed force into state structures. Concerns remain over how the group would operate if it became a brigade inside the PMF, but the report indicates the plan will be more multi-layered.

The process also resembles developments across the border, where the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces are being integrated into Syria's security forces. Together, the changes could bring stability and investment to both sides of the frontier.

Sinjar badly needs that investment, from basic infrastructure to schools and other facilities. Years of neglect stemmed partly from uncertainty, and Yazidis have been wary of returning without assurance that ISIS and its supporters will not come back. Rival armed groups, including the YBS and Iranian-backed militias, have also discouraged investment and undermined confidence that stability will return.

The key question is whether the details of the agreement bring real change. Iraq has already revived Mosul, a city of 2 million that lies between Sinjar and the Kurdistan Region and was freed from ISIS in 2017. It is possible that stability in Mosul could now spread toward Sinjar.