Iraq’s reparations law for Yezidi survivors is a positive step

But the government must heed the advice of civil society to make sure it is implemented properly.

When I first spoke with Sahir last year, he was living in a camp for displaced people in northern Iraq. He told me how, at just 15 years old, he was abducted by ISIL from his family in Iraq. After enduring months of military training and countless hours of propaganda, ISIL forced him to fight in Syria, where he suffered extensive injuries. He was sent to a hospital to recover, and from there he finally managed to escape ISIL. But nearly three years after returning to Iraq, he is still feeling despondent. Like so many of the estimated 2,000 Yezidi child survivors of ISIL captivity, whose situation Amnesty International documented last year, he had not received any assistance since his return.