For Sarab Essa, a member of Iraq’s Yazidi minority that was enslaved and brutalised by ISIS, securing a monthly payment through a compensation programme is a small victory in a long and arduous journey towards healing and justice.
“The monthly payment is appreciated, but it’s not enough,” Ms Essa, 21, who spent five years in captivity, told The National.
“We need more than just financial compensation to rebuild our lives and reclaim our dignity.”
In March 2021, the Iraqi parliament approved a law that recognised the crimes committed by ISIS against Yazidi, Christian and Shiite Shabak and Turkmen minorities as genocide and crimes against humanity.
The Yazidi Female Survivors Law aims to provide “compensation, financially and morally” and to “secure a decent life” for survivors through rehabilitation and care.
It covers compensation and reforms for survivors, including monthly payments, the provision of medical and psychological care, the granting of residential land, the right to education without restrictions on age, as well as prioritising survivors when it comes to public sector employment.
The law also states that the government will continue to search for those still in captivity, co-ordinate steps to identify bodies in mass graves and ensure that perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity are held accountable.
Three years on, the main progress has been in the area of monthly payments, which have been disbursed to some survivors.
However, other crucial forms of compensations have not materialised, leaving Yazidi women such as Ms Essa continuing their fight for justice.
ISIS crimes
Ms Essa was about 12 when she and her two sisters were captured in mid-2014 by ISIS, which took control of about a third of the country. They were then sold into slavery.
Thousands of Yazidi women and children were enslaved by the extremists, along with others from Christian, Shiite Turkmen and Shiite Shabak communities.
ISIS took thousands of Yazidis captive from their ancestral homeland of Sinjar, near the Syrian border, and surrounding areas and proceeded to kill the rest.
Thousands of young women were forced into sexual slavery by the extremists while mass graves containing the bodies of thousands killed are still being uncovered.
Ms Essa was sold many times by the families of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, where the terrorist group also overran lands.
“They were the hardest days of my life,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “Every day passed as if it was a year. The living conditions were difficult and life was tough.”
I was a child and my whole life revolved around my childhood. Their brutality deprived me of the chance to live my childhood and made it a tough one
Sarab Essa,
Yazidi survivor
“I was a child and my whole life revolved around my childhood,” she said. “Their brutality deprived me of the chance to live my childhood and made it a tough one.”
She was reunited with her family in July 2019 while her two sisters returned in 2016 and 2020.
Like others, Ms Essa applied for compensation under the government programme in September 2022, when the application portal was first launched.
She began to receive a monthly payment of 800,000 Iraqi dinar (about $530) from April last year. Her other two sisters are entitled to the same amount.
About 7,000 women and girls were captured and sold into slavery, according to estimates from Yazidi community leaders and NGOs.
More than half of them eventually escaped. The numbers for other minorities are not available.
As of last month, 1,651 survivors were approved to receive reparation payments, according to Iraqi government figures, which listed 847 female survivors, 784 children who were under the age of 18 when they were kidnapped, as well as 20 survivors of mass killings.
Most of the beneficiaries are Yazidis.
Mixed record
In its report to mark the third anniversary of the law on Friday, the Coalition for Just Reparations, an alliance of Iraqi NGOs, said the monthly compensation payments remained “one of the successes of YSL [Yazidi Survivors Law] implementations”.
“These payments have a tangible, material impact on the lives of survivors, the majority of whom reside in post-conflict affected areas or camps,” C4JR said in its report.
However, the monthly payment has become an obstacle preventing survivors from receiving priority status in public sector employment, as stipulated by the law.
This is because Iraqi legislation prohibits citizens from receiving a dual salary, C4JR said.
It called on the government to consider making an exception.
With regards to mental health and psychosocial support, C4JR said: “There is growing optimism regarding the potential for significant progress in the upcoming year towards achieving rehabilitation as a form of reparation within the YSL framework.”
It also recommended the dropping of extralegal investigation papers as a mandatory supporting document for the YSL framework and urged authorities to take into consideration other supporting paperwork available or invite applicants to be interviewed by the concerned committee.
On land distribution, the Iraqi government decided in late 2022 to grant Yazidis ownership of their land in 11 collective towns in Sinjar, offering a solution to historic ownership issues that previously prevented official recognition of Sinjar residents’ ownership of land and houses.
“This move set in motion the realisation of YSL entitlements in terms of the distribution of plots of land to the law’s beneficiaries,” C4JR said.
Last October, provincial authorities in Nineveh decided to allocate 250 plots of residential land in Sinjar and 12 in the town Tel Afar, each measuring 250 square metres, to an initial batch of beneficiaries.
The law entitles survivors to resume their studies, removing a legal age limit outlined by the Iraqi Ministry of Education that many survivors of ISIS violence had passed as a result of captivity.
According to the Education Ministry, any pupil who is absent for two years must attend evening classes at a public school while any pupil who has missed four years of schooling loses the right to enrol for either morning and evening classes.
While survivors are exempt from the age restrictions under the law, only a few have been able to return to school as adults.
The General Directorate for Survivors Affairs has taken measures to support the return of 17 female and eight male survivors, C4JR said.
Prominent Yazidi NGO Yazda is also providing educational rehabilitation support to 200 survivors as an interim measure until the state-sponsored system is functional, it added.
Ms Essa, whose family still lives in a camp, is still waiting to be covered by other reparative measures, mainly the one on education.
“They think that when we get that payment, we will need nothing,” she said. “All the articles are important, and all our rights are in that law.”
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Lexus LX700h specs
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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