Flemish Government to give 200,000 euro in aid to help Yezidis
The Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (nationalist) has announced that the Flemish Government is to give 200,000 in aid to help the Yezidis. The money will go to Nadia Murad’s (photo below) NGO. Ms Murad was a victim of sexual violence perpetrated by member of the jihadist terror group IS. In 2018 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Yezidis are a Kurds that practice their own religion. They were victimised, killed and tortured when the terror group IS entered their traditional home land in Northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. Many Yezidi woman and girls were forced into sexual slavery by IS fighters. Thousands of Yezidi men were murdered. Many Yezidis fled to the Sinjar where thousands perished from hunger and thirst.
Nadia Murad was able to escape IS’ self-proclaimed “caliphate” and she set up Nadia’s Initiative in Germany in 2016. The NGO fights sexual violence and campaigns against suppression on minority groups. The NGO also helps with reconstruction projects in the area of Iraq where the Yezidis live. In 2018 Nadia Murad was given the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition of her work.
Some of the 200,000 euro from the Flemish Government will be used to purchase heating systems, clothing, blankets and household items for Yezidi women. The remainder will be for medical aid. Last year the former Flemish Prime Minister Geert Bourgeois gave 250,000 euro in Flemish Government aid to Nadia’s Initiative.
