A delegation from the European Parliament is visiting southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) for a series of talks in the region. The delegation is made up of Martin Schirdewan, Member of the European Parliament and Co-Chair of The Left Group; Nora Friese-Wendenburg, assistant to Martin Schirdewan; Philip Degenhard, Vice President of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation; Faik Yağızay, Strasbourg Representative of the DEM Party; Dr. Sarah Glynn, advisor to Faik Yağızay.

The delegation met with the Shengal Democratic Autonomous Administration on Wednesday. The visit is expected to draw the attention of European public opinion to the challenges faced by the Yazidi community and to enhance the international visibility of the Shengal Autonomous Administration.

The meeting, which was closed to the press, lasted about an hour.

According to reports, the Autonomous Administration presented an 11-page document to the delegation providing information about the historical process of the Yazidi people, the difficulties they have faced, and the autonomous administration model implemented in Shengal.

Officials from the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Shengal requested that the delegation bring this issue to the European Parliament's agenda. They also requested that international pressure be exerted on the Iraqi government to recognize the rights of the Yazidi community.

The city of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered, and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind, unprotected. The guerrillas of HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) and fighters of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression. Thanks to a months-long selfless struggle, the city was liberated on 13 November 2015. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.

The fate of thousands of Yazidis, especially women, remains unknown. Many were sold in slave markets established by ISIS in cities such as Raqqa, Mosul, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Bukamal. However, SDF forces have successfully liberated thousands of them, reuniting them to their families in Shengal.