Iraqi lawmaker seeks amendments to Yezidi Survivors Law to cover children kidnapped from Tal Afar

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Arshad al-Salihi, head of the Turkmen Bloc in the Iraqi parliament, has called for amendments to the Yezidi Survivors Law, saying the legislation does not cover Turkmen girls and children under 18 kidnapped from Tal Afar after the city fell to ISIS in June 2014. Tal Afar was the first city Iraqi forces entered after the capture of Mosul by the group. In a written statement, Salihi said the law as currently written excludes a significant share of Turkmen children abducted from the Tal Afar district, and that the fate of those who disappeared remains unknown. He appealed to the Iraqi parliament's speaker and the heads of the political and parliamentary blocs to take up an amendment draft sent by the presidency and provide compensation to children under 18 from Turkmen, Yezidi, Christian, Shabak and other communities. The Iraqi parliament passed the Yezidi Survivors Law in March 2021 to provide legal protection, psychological support and compensation for Yezidi women who were victims of mass killing and abduction during ISIS's 2014 offensive. No further details on the proposed amendments were immediately available.