Fmr. Yazidi Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil: Iraq Registers Children of Yazidi Women Raped by ISIS Members as Muslims

Former Yazidi Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil was interviewed on Al-Arabiya Network (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) on April 30, 2019. She criticized the Iraqi government for registering the children of Yazidi women who were raped by ISIS members as Muslims even though it is often said that ISIS does not represent Islam and that ISIS members aren't real Muslims. She said that children that are registered as Muslims cannot be accepted into the Yazidi faith and society, and that there are many cases in which Yazidi women have given their children to orphanages or did not return to the Yazidi community because of the children. She said that while these Yazidi women could move to another country and register the children under their name, the Iraqi government should change the Personal Status Law and other laws so that the state can recognize the children as Yazidis if they are brought up in Yazidi society. She also said that the international community must intervene to protect these women and children.

Vian Dakhil: "Ever since the terrorist ISIS has emerged, everybody has been saying that ISIS does not represent Islam, and that its members are not Muslims, but yet the Iraqi state – the Iraqi government – registers the children [of Yazidi women who were raped in ISIS captivity] as Muslims. Well, we say that ISIS members are not Muslims, but [the Iraqi government] tells us, tells the international community, and tells all the people who believe in human rights, that ISIS members are, indeed, Muslims? What is this contradiction?"

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Host: "Is there a religious ruling about children of Yazidi mothers and non-Yazidi fathers, or is this not something that people acknowledge?"

Dakhil: "No, such a thing is not acknowledged. As I've said, the Yazidi faith is a non-missionary religion. A non-Yazidi person cannot be accepted into the Yazidi religion. The Iraqi government is now forcing us to... We don't know how to deal with this, because these children are registered as Muslims, and this cannot be undone, so if the legislation..."

Host: "So maybe if this detail was resolved..."

Dakhil: "This might give us hope that..."

Host: "So the issue is not about rejecting these children, it is about rejecting the way..."

Dakhil: "A solution can be found to this problem. For example, the mother could go to live with her child in another country, where she could register the child under her name..."

Host: "Were all children retrieved by Iraq placed in orphanages, or are there children who stayed with their fathers' [other] children?"

Dakhil: "There are many tragic cases. Some girls returned to their families, but had to hand their children over to orphanages in Mosul and Baghdad. Some women have not returned, because they had these children. They just couldn't do it. The mother's instinct... I cannot force a woman to..."

Host: "Some women gave birth more than once..."

Dakhil: "Yes, they spent five years [in captivity]. They could have had two or three children. Some women gave birth more than once, and they cannot leave their children. It is a mother's instinct. I am not against her for staying with her children... But at the same time, she just left her family and her society. It is unjust to her. We must accept these cases.

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"The Iraqi government must change some laws, especially the Personal Status Law. It must not consider these children to be Muslims if they are brought up in Yazidi society. The international community must intervene to protect these women and children."