Müyeser Abbas whose husband is a KDP peshmerga, was captured by ISIS with her family and her husband's family during the ISIS onslaught on Shengal in 2014. Her life has been no different than the life of other Êzidî women under ISIS atrocity since.
Müyeser Abbas whose husband is a KDP peshmerga, was captured by ISIS with her family and her husband's family during the ISIS onslaught on Shengal in 2014. Her life has been no different than the life of other Êzidî women under ISIS atrocity since. She was sold as a slave in markets and her only luck was that her two children aged 5 and 7 were not separated from her.
Abbas who has recently been rescued by YPG/YPJ fighters spoke to ANF about her experiences during ISIS captivity, and shared with us her excitement to reunite with her family soon.
“WE WERE CAPTURED WHEN PESHMERGA FLED”
Müyesser Abbas' husband, a peshmerga fighter, was in another area when ISIS attacked their home. She told that: “We were in the Kocho village when ISIS attacked there at night. There were many peshmergas in the vilage but they all fled in the morning, so we ended up in ISIS captivity. My husband was not there, he was in the Shamal hamlet. Me and my children were in the house of my husband's father and ISIS captured all of us.”
“THEY TOOK YOUNG GIRLS FOR THEMSELVES”
Abbas said ISIS took them to the village madrasa after capturing them, telling: “They seized all our gold and money, and the cars of the men. They separated men from us and took them away. They then took us women and young girls to the Shengal Madrasa. We stayed there for a day and night. They took young girls away at night, and the boys above 10. They also took the old women in the morning but I don't know where they took them.
After a few days in Shengal, we were taken to Tal Afar and stayed in Tal Afar Madrasa for a few days. They later took us to one of the villages in Tal Afar. They had kidnapped us by force but they did not let us die of hunger. They came to me one day and asked where my husband was. I lied to them and said that he was in their hand.They later brought us to Syria with a bus.”
“I WAS SOLD AS A SLAVE IN RAQQA”
The tragedy of Abbas gets heavier, like that of other Êzidî women, after her delivery to Syria. She said that she was sold to various members of the gangs six times in Syria, and told the following:
“They brought us to a hamlet near Raqqa. The garden was full with olive trees and we could not understand where we were. There they wrote down our names as well as the names of our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. On the third day, they read out names of some among us, forced us into a car and took us away. When we asked them where we were going, they did not answer. We later found ourselves in a prison in Raqqa. We stayed there for three days. I was sold to a Turkish gang member afterwards.
I cried and said that I would not go with them. They later forced me and my children into a car and sent us with that man. I had to stay with him for some time. It was always the same; someone was taking us away, we were staying with him for a while and then we were being sold to another man. There was no life for us. We always wanted to flee from them and reunite with our families and people.”
Abbas was separated from her children by a gang member called Abu Zubeyr Cizirevi that bought her as a slave a while ago. She was later rescued by YPG/YPJ and brought to Kobanê where she learned that her children had also been rescued.
“Some Êzidî women were leaving their children in the hands of ISIS and fleeing. ISIS was forcing 7-year-old girls even into marriage. My son Seham was 7 years old and my daughter 5 years old when we were taken prisoner. When I was rescued from ISIS and brought to Kobanê, they told me that my children had been rescued three months ago, and showed me their photos. My children were even reunited with my husband and our people. I spoke to them on the phone. I am very happy that I have been freed.”
“YPG/YPJ MAKE US HAPPY”
Abbas continued with the following call to the YPG/YPJ:
“I am very happy to be freed but YPG and YPJ should free all the Êzidî women that are still in ISIS captivity. Many people of ours were taken prisoner by ISIS and we do not know about their whereabouts. My father was also kidnapped by ISIS and I do not know if he is alive or not. I haven't seen my father, mother in law and father in law for 3 years. They were all kidnapped by ISIS. YPG and YPJ have freed many Êzidî women from ISIS so far but no single woman should remain in the hands of ISIS. As you know, the hands of ISIS is the hand of death and dirth.”
