Vigil in Shengal continues on day 19

For almost three weeks, protests have been going on in Shengal against the agreement reached between the KDP and the Iraqi government over Yazidi town in Southern Kurdistan. So far, there has been no positive response.

For almost three weeks, a vigil has been held in front of the office of the local security forces (Yazidi Asayish, Asayîşa Êzîdxanê) in Shengal (Sinjar) to protest against the planned dissolution of the autonomous self-governing structures. The background is the agreement reached between Hewlêr (Erbil) and Baghdad on the distribution of authorities in the region.

The protest tent in front of the Asayîşa Êzîdxanê is visited every day by people from the surrounding area. Haidar Şengalî of the Yezidi Democracy and Freedom Party stated that there are no new developments yet: "Our resistance continues. We have not yet received a positive response. We call on our people to protest against the dirty agreement."

Yazidis do not want to leave their protection to outside forces

On October 9, South Kurdistan’s ruling party KDP and the Iraqi central government agreed to take control of the Shengal region and disband all self-defense forces. In 2014, the HPG guerrillas alone, and later the YPG and YPJ from Rojava, had defended Shengal against ISIS and helped establish their own self-defense forces and democratic self-government in the region. In 2018, the HPG withdrew from the region after completing this task. Shengal has been protecting itself ever since, and the people there are no longer willing to leave their security and administration to outside forces in light of 74 massacres in Yazidi history.