Secretary Blinken’s New Statement: Ongoing Commitment to Justice for Ezidi Genocide Victims

^{23rd July 2024}

Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted Ezidi activists at the State Department on July 23 ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Ezidi genocide by ISIS.

Antony Blinken gave a speech in which he emphasised the need to support the victims of the genocide.

Between 2014 and 2017, ISIS displaced millions of Iraqis from their historic homelands, including the majority of Iraq’s Ezidi population. We’ve worked hand in hand with civil society, with community leaders from across Iraq’s religious and ethnic components to help these communities recover, to advance Iraq’s stability and sovereignty, and, of course, to do everything possible to make sure that ISIS cannot rear its ugly head again.

Over 1,000,000 Iraqis remain displaced inside Iraq, including about 300,000 Ezidis.

26 100 Ezidis remain missing and unaccounted for. We are determined to find them, to learn their fates, and to rescue those who remain, remain alive.

I think one of the most meaningful ways that we can remember 10 years on, not only remember but honor the victims, is to hear their stories, to remind ourselves what people experience and continue to experience in different ways.

/Antony Blinken

Video recording of the speech is available on the Washington Post.