Sinjar Mayor Mahma Khalil has warned of the loss of votes of part of Yezidis in the upcoming Iraqi elections, as the registration list of voters has not been submitted to the parliament yet.
Khalil argued that it is possible for the Yezidis to fail to send their "true" representatives to the Iraqi parliament if the majority of the displaced Yezidis are prevented from casting their votes in the camps.
Sinjar could face a campaign of arabization and demographic change, he further warned.
"They [Iraqi authorities] have allowed Arabs in Sinjar to cast their votes, but they do not allow displaced Yezidis in the camps to cast their votes, and this is to not recognize the Sinjar genocide," the mayor said, referring to the ISIS genocide against the Yezidis in 2014.
Apart from killing hundreds of Yezidis, the jihadist group in mid-2014 abducted over 6,000 members of the religious minority group, including women and children, more than half of whom have already been liberated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Sinjar mayor noted that part of the displaced Yezidis have so far remained unable to return to their places of origin due to instability in their hometowns and poor public services.
Khalil argued that it is possible for the Yezidis to fail to send their "true" representatives to the Iraqi parliament if the majority of the displaced Yezidis are prevented from casting their votes in the camps.
Sinjar could face a campaign of arabization and demographic change, he further warned.
"They [Iraqi authorities] have allowed Arabs in Sinjar to cast their votes, but they do not allow displaced Yezidis in the camps to cast their votes, and this is to not recognize the Sinjar genocide," the mayor said, referring to the ISIS genocide against the Yezidis in 2014.
Apart from killing hundreds of Yezidis, the jihadist group in mid-2014 abducted over 6,000 members of the religious minority group, including women and children, more than half of whom have already been liberated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Sinjar mayor noted that part of the displaced Yezidis have so far remained unable to return to their places of origin due to instability in their hometowns and poor public services.
