Thousands of displaced Arab refugees,
including a large number of Christians and Yazidis, are continuing to
flee Iraq following the Islamic State's mass execution of around 2,000
Iraqis in the city of Nineveh — followed by a series of car bombs in
Baghdad on Monday — resulting in dozens of causalities, according to Reuters.
It's been one year since the Islamic State began its reign of terror in the Sinjar and Tal Afar districts of northern Iraq's Nineveh Province, which has included a hate-fueled campaign to wipe out Christians and Yazidis as well as other religious communities.
"Islamic State has unleashed untold misery and suffering on defenseless religious and ethnic communities, while destroying treasured religious and historical sites in both Iraq and Syria," said Robert P. George, chairman of the U.S.Commission on International Religious Freedom, last week. "Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others are all at risk. Due to IS's reign of terror, millions of people from Iraq and Syria have been forced to flee and now are refugees or internally displaced."
It's been one year since the Islamic State began its reign of terror in the Sinjar and Tal Afar districts of northern Iraq's Nineveh Province, which has included a hate-fueled campaign to wipe out Christians and Yazidis as well as other religious communities.
"Islamic State has unleashed untold misery and suffering on defenseless religious and ethnic communities, while destroying treasured religious and historical sites in both Iraq and Syria," said Robert P. George, chairman of the U.S.Commission on International Religious Freedom, last week. "Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others are all at risk. Due to IS's reign of terror, millions of people from Iraq and Syria have been forced to flee and now are refugees or internally displaced."
The USCIRF is calling on the Obama
administration to increase the number of Syrian refugee resettlements.
Thus far, the U.S. has resettled only around 2,000 Syrian refugees since
2011, a vanishingly small number of the 4 million registered Syrian
refugees. The bi-partisan government commission is also requesting that
more assistance be given to host countries such as Lebanon to help with
the large number of Syrian refugees the country is already housing.
In his Aug. 3 statement, George further emphasized that many Yazidis are still trapped inside the Islamic State.
"As far as we know, some Yazidis remain on Mt. Sinjar; many others are displaced in northern Iraq, primarily in the Kurdish region, or in neighboring countries. Some reports say that thousands remain in captivity. … This is a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions."
Read more: Thousands of Iraqi Christians Flee as ISIS Massacres 2,000 Civilians, Blasts Baghdad With Car BoIn his Aug. 3 statement, George further emphasized that many Yazidis are still trapped inside the Islamic State.
"As far as we know, some Yazidis remain on Mt. Sinjar; many others are displaced in northern Iraq, primarily in the Kurdish region, or in neighboring countries. Some reports say that thousands remain in captivity. … This is a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions."
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