Yazidi MP Saib Khidir at the C4JR-UNAMI Conference made a case for swift enactment of the Yazidi Women Survivors Bill.

MP Khidir underlined the importance of legislating to assist survivors with all the key issues such as access to education, legal documents, missing relatives etc., but cautioned against unrealistic expectations as some reparations necessitate amending existing legislation. He warned that prompt legislative action is needed because forthcoming MPs might not have such an affirmative stance towards minorities. Urgency is also commanded by the dire position of survivors who still linger in camps under horrible conditions. He pleaded that, in view of the number of survivors affected by ISIS atrocities, Yazidis deserve to be explicitly mentioned in the title, but made clear that all survivors who can prove to have been captured and/or subjected to sexual violence by ISIS should have access to reparations. Finally, MP Khidir invited Iraqi civil society and international community to support him in accelerating the legislative process by urging the political blocks in the parliament and the speaker to pass this law.

Yazidi Women Survivors Bill