42 More Ezidi Families Return to Shengal After 11 Years
On March 3, 2025, 42 Ezidi families, displaced during the 2014 ISIS onslaught, returned to their homeland in Shengal after living for over a decade in Çem Mişko Camp in Duhok. The families, totaling 163 individuals, resettled in the Digur sub-district and the villages of Sêkêniye and Rembûsî. This marks another step in the ongoing process of repopulating Shengal, as many more families are expected to return in the coming days.
Over 140,000 Ezidi internally displaced persons (IDPs) are still living in camps across northern Iraq. Despite repeated calls by the Shengal Autonomous Administration for their safe return, the regional authorities had long denied them access to their homes.
This return comes amidst a troubling incident at Xankê Camp in Duhok, where a fire tragically killed a woman and severely injured her four children, which served as yet another reminder of the continuing hardships faced by Ezidi families still living in camps.
Shengal, the last contiguous homeland of the Ezidi people, was attacked by ISIS on August 3, 2014, leading to mass killings and abductions. While the Peshmerga abandoned the region, the YPG/YPJ and HPG came to the rescue, eventually liberating the city in November 2015. Since then, the Ezidis of Shengal have worked to rebuild their institutions, establish defense units, and restore their independence.
This return of Ezidi families is a hopeful sign for their recovery, but the path to full restoration and security remains a long one.
