US Aid Cuts Leave Ezidi Survivors in Humanitarian Crisis

The abrupt suspension of US foreign aid to Iraq in January 2025 has plunged thousands of displaced Ezidis into a deepening humanitarian and mental health crisis in camps across northern Iraq and the disputed territories. The aid cuts have crippled essential services for the Ezidi people, many of whom are survivors of the genocide perpetrated by ISIS and remain trapped in camps nearly a decade later.

Mental health experts warn that suicide, trauma, and domestic violence among displaced Ezidis are on the rise as support networks collapse. Many Ezidi women and children, already traumatized by abduction, enslavement, and mass killings during the genocide, now face a new wave of neglect and hardship.

There is only limited water and electricity in the camps which has created dire shortages of medicine, hygiene supplies, food, and clinics. Outbreaks of scabies and other preventable diseases have been reported.

Legal and security restrictions continue to confine Ezidis to the camps, with many unable to return to their villages — still in ruins or under threat — or find work outside. With no government agency stepping in to replace the shuttered NGOs, trust in institutions has deteriorated further.

For thousands of Ezidis, who remain steadfast in their Sharfadin faith and have endured unimaginable suffering since 2014, the collapse of international aid is yet another betrayal. Left in limbo and increasingly invisible to the world, they now face the growing threat of being forgotten altogether.