Look At These Photos Of Life Two Years After An ISIS Massacre

It's been two years since the Sinjar massacre in Iraq and the Yazidi community is still trying to move forward.

By
Matthew Tucker
by Matthew Tucker

BuzzFeed Picture Editor, UK

When ISIS captured the town of Sinjar in northern Iraq two years ago, thousands of people from the Yazidi community were trapped, including some 25,000 children. Thousands of men were killed as they tried to flee, and hundreds of women and girls were abducted by ISIS and kept as sex slaves.

Last year, Unicef began a photography workshop for 25 young Yazidi women who were affected by the massacre. These images, which were shared by Unicef, were taken by the young women who live in a displacement camp near the city of Dohuk in northern Iraq, to show how their community is coping in the aftermath of the killings.

All of them were allowed to keep their cameras.

Barfi / UNICEF
Barfi / UNICEF
Barfi / UNICEF

From left: Photographers Manal Barakat Elias, Khawla Shamo Hassan, and Samia Jinda Khudeda pose outside historical buildings during a group exhibition at the Erbil Citadel, northern Iraq, in July 2016.

Safiya Soleyman / UNICEF
Safiya Soleyman / UNICEF

Safiya Soleyman, 14, took portraits of Yazidi children living in her camp in Dohuk.

Bafrin / Unicef

Bafrin Khodeyda Ahmad, 19, from Sinjar, took photos showing her mother’s experience of displacement. The date on the wall is the date that the family fled their home.

Bafrin Khodeyda Ahmad / UNICEF
Bushra Qasim / UNICEF

Left: A portrait of Bafrin Khodeyda Ahmad's mother. "It was so hard to take such a photo..." Bafrin said. "When she started crying I also cried." Right: Portrait of a Yazidi elder living in Khanke Displacement Camp.

Samia Jindo Khudeda / Unicef

Yazidis perform religious rituals inside the Shiekhday Shrine at Lalish Sacred Monastery.

Dalal Qasim Murad / Unicef

Yazidi worshippers perform traditional religious ceremonies at Lalish Sacred Monastery during the Yazidi New Year.

Dalal Qasim Murad / Unicef

Yazidi children play on the fence surrounding Khanke Displacement Camp.

Zina Elyas Hasan / Unicef

Zina Elyas Hasan’s photo project focused on a couple living in her camp who wanted to have children but they couldn't. Here, the husband teaches a class inside the camp.

Zina Salim Hassan / Unicef

Two girls at Khanke Displacement Camp play an ancient Yazidi game that dates back thousands of years.

Zina Salim Hassan / Unicef

A Yazidi woman, Nasma Hussien Hassan, prays for the release of the kidnapped Yazidi girls at Lalish Sacred Monastery.

Zina Salim Hassan / Unicef

Yazidi women pray to this holy tree on Sinjar mountain to become pregnant.

Barfi Ali Bashar / Unicef

Barfi Ali Bashar, 18, focused on photographing traditional Yazidi dress. She took portraits of friends and relatives against colorful backdrops in her camp. This is her sister in an attire worn during their celebrations.

Nada Saeid Sido / Unicef

Displaced Yazidis living in an unfinished building in Dohuk.

Nasrin Salim Hasan / Unicef

Nasrin, 17, followed the journey of a woman who found herself hopelessly alone after her husband died, just before she gave birth to his child. The illiterate woman was devastated, but realized she needed to pick herself up for the sake of her child. She taught herself to read and write — and then set up her own business, a successful salon in her camp. Nasrin titled her photo story "Never Give Up."

Nasrin Salim Hasan / Unicef
Neam Ali Bashar / Unicef

Children have breakfast with their mother at the camp. Their father is a soldier, so the mother is usually the one who takes care of the kids.

Manal Barakat Elias / Unicef

A Yazidi girl sticks flowers and eggshells on doors, which signifies peace and glory, in a photo taken by Manal Barakat Elias.

Manal Barakat Elias / Unicef

"Narin" (name changed) was kidnapped by ISIS for eight months, after which she was able to escape. The rest of her family members are still in captivity.


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