Nayef Jasso had lived all his life in the remote Yazidi village of Kocho, which was established by his father. But he happened to be in the city of Duhok during the first days of August 2014, as ISIS swept through northern Iraq.
His brother Ahmed, Kocho's chief, was at home as phone calls came in from villages closer to the cragged peaks of Mount Sinjar in the early hours of August 3, describing mass killings and women and children being loaded on to lorries to be taken to slave markets in Mosul.
“I told him I would come back to Kocho, and he refused. He said, 'stay there, perhaps you find us somewhere to stay or make a deal to save the village',” Mr Jasso, 64, said.
Ahmed was killed along with many villagers a few days later, as ISIS almost wiped Kocho off the map in one of the worst crimes of what would be later recognised as genocide against the Yazidi religious minority.
Mr Jasso spent days pleading with anyone he could, including the Iraqi government, to make a deal to save the village but could only return to Kocho three years later, after fighting to free it from ISIS occupation.
Survivors marked the 10th anniversary of the attack on Thursday, mourning at a newly built cemetery in the ruins of the abandoned village, surrounded by mass graves.
After encircling the village for two weeks, ISIS militants on August 15 ordered the 1,700 inhabitants to gather in the school, where they were separated by age and gender. Men, older boys, and older women were shot, and the rest taken as slaves and child soldiers.
A total of 511 villagers have been confirmed killed or are still missing, according to statistics given to The National by Nadia's Initiative, established by Kocho survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, with the remains of 151 identified and buried in the cemetery.
Nineteen people survived being shot into 19 mass graves in and around the village, close enough for terrified women to hear shots ringing out as they were held in the school.
Thikran Mato, Mr Jasso's nephew, was 15 when the massacre took place.
“At the school gate, one of the ISIS members put his gun between me and my father and told me to go back to my mother, because I was young at the time. My father smiled and looked at me, I knew then that I would never see him again,” he said.
He is still waiting for his family's remains to be identified.
“Only 150 [sets of remains] have been returned out of about 500 people. This makes our life very difficult. I buried my father and now I am waiting for my brother's bones and the rest of my family,” Mr Mato told The National from Germany, where he resettled after being freed from captivity in 2016.
August is a particularly heavy month for Iraq's Yazidi community, followers of an ancient and closed religion. Survivors gathered in Sinjar on August 3 to mark 10 years since the start of the 2014 genocide, while August 14 marked 17 years since a twin bombing in the Yazidi towns of Tal Ezeer and Siba Sheikh Khidr, in Nineveh governorate, northern Iraq, killed almost 800 people.
No one claimed responsibility for the 2007 blasts, which occurred at a time of high sectarian tension.
While most people from the Sinjar region remain in camps and cities in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, more are returning to their former homes – except for Kocho. Three years after plans were announced to build a new village on land given by the Iraqi government, survivors from the village largely remain in tent camps.
“The desire from the community is just to have a place to go back to. For the past several years people have been returning to most villages in Sinjar, except Kocho. An alternative is not yet there.” said Abid Shamdeen, co-founder of Nadia’s Initiative.
Plans have been drawn up with the UN's International Organisation for Migration, USAID and a team of engineers and architects, who are ready to begin work. The new village will be some distance away from old Kocho.
“It is traumatising and very difficult for the community to go back and live in the same village, especially as the mass graves were either inside Kocho or right outside, and with what happened in the school, and now. They feel it would be very difficult for those who survived, and are still living in Iraq, to go back,” said Mr Shamdeen.
On Sunday, a mother from Kocho and her child were released from Al Hol camp in eastern Syria – where families linked to ISIS are detained – and greeted by their surviving family at the border the following day. The girl, now 10, was three months old when taken into captivity during the August 15 massacre.
More than 6,400 Yazidis were taken captive during the genocide, including from Kocho. According to Mr Shamdeen, 2,692 are still missing, half of whom are women and the rest young boys.
Foreign initiatives to rehabilitate women and children returning from ISIS captivity have largely ended, and most go to live in camps for displaced people in Iraq's Kurdish region. Mr Jasso says Kocho’s remaining survivors are scattered across the Kurdish region and Sinjar villages, such as Tel Qasab.
On the long journey from Baghdad to Kocho, Mr Jasso recalls government meetings over the project, and says he hopes to lay the first stone of new Kocho next month.
“This is for Kocho, for the survivors who stayed in Iraq and those who went abroad. We were 1,700 people and now we're scattered over four or five continents.”
He is one of only a few people to return to the deserted village, where those who have come back guard the cemetery and the mass graves. No families have returned, and the school now lies untouched, lined with the portraits of villagers killed or kidnapped by the terrorist group.
“The main thing I want is the school to be a museum. This is our right,” said Mr Jasso. “What happened there was a catastrophe. It’s now a historical landmark.”
His nephew agrees that what remains of Kocho should be preserved as a lesson on what happened. But he has reservations about plans for a new village.
“They are planning to build a new Kocho, but without the people of Kocho,” said Mr Mato. “How can I live in the same area where my father, brother and friends are buried? But there are people from Kocho who need this, and need homes.”
He said what remains of the village, the mass graves and “demolished houses”, should now be a historical site.
“It is the place where an entire village was killed and taken captive, just because they were peaceful people.”
Fighting through loss
Ryan D’Souza, who has worked in genocide and atrocity prevention for more than a decade, first visited the village in 2019. He was shown around the remains of the Kocho by Mr Mato, as they began to document the destruction for a virtual reality project, showing the aftermath of the massacre, that has now toured the globe.
“You enter and the whole village is destroyed. There’s an eeriness. You see the grass growing in different directions. It doesn’t feel like it was inhabited,” Mr D'Souza, founder of the project, told The National from his home in London.
“The one thing that was basically intact was the school, which is harrowing. That’s the part that is really shocking. There’s just silence.”
His project follows the stories of Yazidis taken into captivity as slaves and child soldiers, and walks participants around the crumbled remains of Kocho, where ISIS graffiti is still scrawled on the walls.
Mr Mato and Mr D'Souza have brought the story of Kocho to a wider audience at foreign parliaments and UK schools, and parliaments and universities in Iraq and its semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
“Showing it in Baghdad, people understandably see their own suffering because everyone has suffered in Iraq. It's been 10, 20, 40 years of awful, genocidal crimes.”
“It is interesting to show them this VR – to show them what genocide, not just in terms of the sexual crimes [against Yazidis], but what genocide means by complete targeting and elimination,” said Mr D'Souza.
“We've shown it to educators [in Iraq] and want to take it to high schools. We know it works. Going there and being there is the best way of learning and empathising and having an indelible mark left on people, but this is the first step towards that.”
Back in the village, Mr Jasso now serves as its chief in place of his brother. He prepares for Thursday's memorial, as locals visit graves with candles.
“I’ve not given in to this loss,” he said. “I've held my nerve, I've helped free captives and free Kocho, and now I'm back to guard the cemetery and the village.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
Other simple ideas for sushi rice dishes
Cheat’s nigiri
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.
Deconstructed sushi salad platter
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber
Company%20Profile
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
