In Iraq, Yazidis seeking refuge at holy site feel helpless, abandoned
Aveen Khalf Kasim, 7, walked around one of the seven pillars at the main shrine of the Yazidi faith, hastily untying and tying knots.
"I was asking for the well-being for all the Yazidis," explained the youngster, who was wearing a pink T-shirt bearing the words "happy" and "live" in English.
The Yazidis, who follow an ancient faith with links to Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity, believe that prayers made while tying a knot in the colorful fabric will be granted when another pilgrim unties them.
"All the Yazidis are coming here and praying for well-being," said her mother, Laila Afdaal.
In early August, the Sunni Muslim militant group Islamic State rapidly advanced through western and northern Iraq and into Sinjar, where much of the Yazidi community has long lived. Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled rather than face mandatory conversion or death.
Hundreds found their way to this mountain village in northern Iraq that is the holiest site for Yazidis, home to the tomb of their founder Sheik Adi and shrines to other leaders of the faith.
Afdaal and her family were on a one-day pilgrimage, visiting from a nearby refugee camp that has served as a temporary home since they came down from Mt. Sinjar, where they were trapped for 10 days in August with thousands of other starving and dehydrated Yazidis. Afdaal said they had to leave her 90-year-old father on the mountain because he was too frail to make the journey. Three days later, they learned that he had died.
"This is not a life, it's very hard," she said. "We expected there would be help, but the help didn't come."
Many families who sought refuge in Lalish remain here and new ones are still arriving, reusing blankets, pots, mattresses and tarps left behind by families who have moved on to refugee camps, which offer only a modicum more of stability and services.
Last week was to have been the Yazidis' annual pilgrimage to Lalish for celebration and prayers. But the faith's leaders decided to cancel the Eid this year because of the massive displacement of its people as well as thousands still missing or held captive by Islamic State. Rooms across the holy village normally used by pilgrims are now packed with displaced people.
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In Iraq, Yazidis seeking refuge at holy site feel helpless, abandoned