Yazidis still negotiating return of kidnapped women, children
In the absence of local and international authorities, the Yazidis continue buying back their kidnapped women and children.
On the morning of June 4, Ali Hussein was sitting in his car staring at the latest message on his phone sent by a mediator who is helping free six members of his family. The message said the Syrian armed faction was demanding $90,000 for his family members abducted in August 2014 from Sinjar, northern Iraq.
Hussein himself was kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) and managed to escape alive. He then decided to help rescue other Yazidis kidnapped by IS. According to the Kidnapped Yazidis Rescue Office based in the city of Dahok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, around 2,800 Yazidis were kidnapped by IS and other extremist factions in Syria.
