More than a decade after ISIS carried out genocide against the Ezidi people, Iraq’s reparations programme is providing financial support and other forms of assistance to a growing number of survivors. The programme represents an important form of state recognition, but many survivors continue to face administrative barriers, displacement and the absence of full accountability for the crimes committed against them.
The Yazidi Survivors Law, adopted on 1 March 2021, created a state reparations programme for women and girls from the Ezidi, Turkmen, Christian and Shabak populations who survived specified ISIS crimes. It also covers Ezidi children who were abducted and people from the recognised groups who survived mass-killing operations.
The law provides monthly financial payments together with access to medical and psychological care, education, housing assistance and measures intended to locate missing people and preserve the memory of those killed. Its adoption was widely regarded as a significant step because it formally recognised the suffering of survivors and placed responsibility on the Iraqi state to provide long-term support.
Implementation, however, began slowly. The first payment cards were distributed in March 2023, two years after the law was adopted. Since then, the number of approved applicants has gradually increased.
According to Iraqi government figures, 2,354 people were receiving benefits by May 2025. They included 1,099 women and girls, 1,231 people who had been abducted as children and 24 survivors of mass killings. Hundreds of beneficiaries had also received residential land, health cards, psychological support and access to educational opportunities.
A monitoring update published in June 2026 reported that 2,496 survivors had been approved under the law, while 2,216 received reparations during May. The figures indicate continued progress, but they also reveal that not every approved survivor was receiving payments at the time of the update.
Survivors Still Face Administrative Barriers
Accessing the programme remains difficult for many applicants. Survivors may be required to travel long distances, replace documents lost during displacement, visit several government offices and repeatedly describe traumatic experiences before their applications are approved.
These requirements can be particularly burdensome for people living in displacement camps, abroad or in areas with limited public services. Survivors without legal assistance or complete documentation may struggle to navigate the application process, even when they are clearly entitled to support under the law.
International organisations and monitoring bodies have called on Iraq to simplify the procedures, strengthen legal assistance and address gaps that continue to exclude some survivors. Administrative delays also undermine the purpose of the law when applicants must wait years before receiving the assistance intended to help them rebuild their lives.
Financial support remains essential, but reparations cannot be reduced to monthly payments. Many survivors continue to live with physical injuries, psychological trauma, economic insecurity and the loss of relatives whose fate remains unknown. Effective implementation therefore requires consistent access to healthcare, education, housing and specialised psychological services in addition to financial compensation.
Reparations Cannot Replace Accountability
The programme has developed while wider demands for justice remain unresolved. Large numbers of Ezidis are still displaced from Shingal, where reconstruction, security and public services remain inadequate. Thousands of families have been unable to return permanently, while many villages and homes have not been fully restored.
The search for missing Ezidis also remains unfinished. More than 2,500 people abducted by ISIS are still missing, and families continue to wait for information about their relatives. Mass graves are still being investigated, while the identification and return of remains have proceeded slowly.
Criminal accountability has also remained limited. Although ISIS members have been prosecuted in Iraq and other countries, many cases have focused on terrorism offences rather than genocide, enslavement, sexual violence or crimes against humanity. Survivors have repeatedly called for prosecutions that recognise the specific crimes committed against the Ezidi people.
The reparations programme therefore represents progress, but it cannot substitute for reconstruction, the search for the missing, criminal accountability and the safe return of displaced families. Monthly payments provide recognition and practical support, but meaningful justice requires the Iraqi state to fulfil all parts of the law and address the broader consequences of the genocide.
For survivors, the success of the programme will ultimately be measured not only by the number of approved applications, but by whether the assistance reaches people consistently, whether services are accessible and whether the state acts on the unresolved demands that have remained unanswered for nearly 12 years.
