Information on the Yazidi of Iraq is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to a 4 February 2000 report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Iraq,

In Iraq, where the Yezidi press service estimates some 600,000 Yezidis live and which is the center of Yezidi culture and religion, Yezidi religious studies have been forbidden by Baghdad since 1963. Similarly, in the Iraqi censuses of 1977 and 1987 the Yezidis are classified and registered as "an Arabic people." The Yezidi publication, "Denge Ezidyan," notes that 10 percent of the Yezidi settlements in Iraq are on the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government, including the holy city of Lalish, while Baghdad retains control of 90 percent of them.

The situation of the Yezidis in Iraqi Kurdistan was better than in the Baghdad-controlled areas until the outbreak of the war between the two major political parties in Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. As "Denge Ezidiyan" says, "this created a serious danger not only for those who were pro-democracy, but also the Yezidi and Christian minorities." Since then, the situation has worsened because of the development of extremist Muslim parties in Kurdistan.

Yezidi settlements in northern Iraq under Baghdad's control have also been subject to other forms of arbitrary action. In 1978, 126 Yezidi villages in the Sinjar region were "collectivized" into ten villages, and eight Yezidi villages near Duhak were destroyed and the villagers forcibly driven into another village. "Denge Ezidyan" reports several such instances. The process generally involves the redistribution of Yezidi lands to Arab tribes.

The Iraqi "new villages" lack basic medical services, and any economic advantages. Animal husbandry, a traditional Yezidi occupation, is not permitted by the Arabs, and pastures for livestock is generally lacking nearby the new settlements.

In August 1997 two Yezidi teachers from the Elqush region were arrested by the Iraqi secret service and tortured until they promised not to give Yezidi religious instruction. In the same month, in Ayn Sufna, an overwhelmingly Yezidi area and the residence of the highest figure in the Yezidi religion, 1,500 properties of the Yezidis were appropriated by members of the Arab Hedidi tribe and the Kurdish tribe Zediki under the sponsorship of the Iraqi government.

The Yezidis face not only a major human rights problem, but also one of identity. Yezidism, as a belief, is passed down through the family. While there are a number of religious texts, they have never been published. Yezidism, thus, became a "folk religion." At the congress, Professor Ackermann of the Essen Cultural Institute made the point that the lack of availability of texts meant that it had become a "secret" religion rather than a public or open religion. This may be one of the factors leading to the current Yezidi campaign for recognition.

The Yezidis' greatest battle is still ahead: to make their religion and beliefs public and end the constant erosion of their communities through ignorance and secrecy. For this reason, they have turned to the Internet in hopes of making their cause better known to the world at large. It is hoped that the campaign against Yezidism is recognized as a human rights issue, not only as a question of religious belief.

Middle East News Items reported that

The Iraqi government has warned the education administration in the Kurdish region against any effort to establish schools for Turkmen, Assyrians, or Yazidis. According to the "Kurdistan Observer" of 25 November, Baghdad said that the plan to open what it called "phony" minority schools is "part of a scheme by enemies of the Iraqi people to break up the country."

Under the Iraqi Constitution the only language of education permitted in Iraq, aside from Arabic, is Kurdish. The Yazidis, predominantly Kurds, practice the Yazidi religion, which has been often suppressed in Iraq (5 Dec. 1999).

In the 31 May 1993 edition of The New York Times, Chris Hedges stated that

Because of the conflict between the Government of Saddam Hussein and the Kurds in northern Iraq, the ancient shrine that is the Yazidi religious center is cut off from the outside world and from most of the 150,000 Yazidis who live in areas controlled by Baghdad.

In 1992, The Orange County Register established the number of Yazidi in Iraq at 250,000 (11Apr. 1992). Books about Yazidi's religious traditions have been banned in Iraq (ibid.).

According to the Middle East Institute of Japan,

The [Iraqi] Constitution does not provide for a Yazidi identity. The Yazidis are a syncretistic religious group (or a set of several groups) whose worship centers on the Peacock Angel and a series of avatars. Many Yazidis consider themselves to be ethnically Kurdish, though some would define themselves as both religiously and ethnically distinct from Muslim Kurds. However, the Government, without any historical basis, has defined the Yazidis as Arabs.

There is evidence that the Government has compelled this re-identification to encourage Yazidis to join in domestic military action against Muslim Kurds. Captured government documents included in the 1998 Human Rights Watch report "Bureaucracy of Repression, the Iraqi Government in Its Own Words" describe special all-Yazidi military detachments formed during the 1988-89 Anfal campaign to "pursue and attack" Muslim Kurds (1999).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Middle East Institute of Japan. 1999. "Iraq." http://www.meij.or.jp/new/other/religion/rf99iraq.htm [Accessed 30 May 2000]

Middle East News Items. 5 December 1999. "Baghdad Opposes Minority Language Schools". (NEXIS)

The Orange County Register. 11 April 1992. Louis J. Salome "Yazidis; Ancient Religious Sect Tries to Survive in Iraq." (NEXIS)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 4 February 2000. "Iraq Report: First World Congress of Yezidis Held in Germany." Vol. 3, No. 5. http://www.rferl.org/iraq-report/2000/02/5-040200.html [Accessed 30 May 2000]

The New York Times. 31 May 1993. Chris Hedge. "Sheik Adi Journal; Satan's Alive and Well, But the Sect May Be Dying." (NEXIS)