Forced conversion attempt: Iraqi Yazidis attacked in Netherlands

Shafaq News/ Two Iraqi Yazidi refugees were violently attacked by Moroccan refugees at an asylum camp in the Netherlands, in an attempt to force their conversion to Islam, Yazidi journalist Saman Dawood reported on Thursday.

Dawood told Shafaq News that the attack occurred on Wednesday evening at the Geres camp when three Moroccan refugees allegedly assaulted the Yazidis, demanding they recite the Islamic declaration of faith (Shahada). “Upon refusal, one victim was stabbed, while the other was strangled and stabbed in his bed,” he said.

A video circulating online shows one of the Yazidi victims, bruised and bloodied, recounting the attack, describing how the assailants declared his life and property forfeit after he identified as Yazidi, and insisting he and his companion did nothing to provoke the violence.

The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking minority, faced severe persecution by ISIS after the group seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014. On August 3, 2014, ISIS captured Sinjar, killing an estimated 1,290 Yazidi civilians.

The United Nations has documented more than 200 mass graves from this period, with estimates suggesting up to 12,000 victims. Some graves are also linked to earlier violence, including incidents involving al-Qaeda.

According to estimates, Iraq has as many as 400,000 missing persons, and the actual number of mass graves may be higher.