Ezidi Family Unification in Europe Ten Years After Genocide

An Ezidi Family in Greece

Ten years on, displaced Ezidi survivors have little prospect of safely returning to their homes in Iraq – and those who do face ongoing threats, deprivation, and marginalization. Meanwhile, they lack safe pathways to Europe where they have relatives – and those who are in Europe live in an untenable limbo.

In late 2023, Refugees International and Voice of Ezidis interviewed Ezidis who made harrowing journeys through Türkiye to Greece. For many Ezidi survivors from the historically tight-knit community, family reunification was among their primary concerns. 

Our new joint report outlines clear ways the EU and member states can unite and integrate Ezidi families. The new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is an opportunity to pilot policies that will better support Ezidis seeking protection in Europe. Ten years after the genocide, it’s time to help Ezidi families rebuild their community in safety.

Executive Summary

This year marks ten years since the Ezidi genocide,1 which has been recognized by many countries, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands. What does such recognition mean? Historically and morally, genocide recognition has meant a commitment to holding perpetrators accountable and ensuring survivors receive reparations. It has not entailed an insistence that survivors return to the place they were targeted for genocide – especially if they would likely face violence or precarity there.2 And yet, this is precisely what governments and international organizations expect of Ezidis at a time of increasing insecurity in the Iraq-Türkiye-Syria border region and a lack of adequate shelter and basic services in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq from which Ezidis fled the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) a decade ago. 

Ten years on, displaced Ezidi survivors have little prospect of safely returning to their homes in Iraq – and those who do face ongoing threats, deprivation, and marginalization. Meanwhile, they lack safe pathways to Europe, where they have relatives. Further, many  in Europe live in an untenable limbo, lacking secure legal status or integration support.

In late 2023, Refugees International and Voice of Ezidis (VoE) interviewed Ezidis who made harrowing journeys through Türkiye to Greece. Some told the team that they lost, left behind, or were separated from family members en route. In Greece, the team found that Ezidis had a high refugee grant rate but received minimal support finding work, housing, or health services or bringing over their children and parents from Iraq. As a result, after receiving refugee status in Greece, many of the Ezidis we spoke to moved on to unite with relatives in Germany and the Netherlands, where they apply for asylum all over again. Their ability to stay in Germany is jeopardized by a rising asylum denial rate and a return agreement with the Iraqi government. In the Netherlands, they are living in limbo (and separated from relatives left in Iraq) because of long application processing times. For many Ezidi survivors from the historically tight-knit community, family reunification was among their primary concerns times.

The Ezidi experience is indicative of so many of the problems with European refugee policy: the lack of safe pathways, poor reception conditions in frontline European states, secondary migration within Europe, and complicated and backlogged procedures. The new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is an opportunity to pilot policies that will better support Ezidis seeking protection and integration in Europe. Further, European countries should consult with Ezidi-led organizations like Voice of Ezidis to develop new policies that support survivors and model humane migration management. Humanitarian and family unification pathways should be a component of genocide recognition by European countries. 

Recommendations 

To the European Union:

• Establish a European humanitarian visa specifically for survivors of genocides recognized by member states.

• Encourage member states to prioritize relocation of Ezidi asylum seekers and refugees from Greece to states where they have family ties – the “meaningful links” described in relation to the Pact on Migration and Asylum’s solidarity mechanism. 

• Encourage member states to recognize the Ezidi Genocide, to engage and consult with Ezidi-led organizations in the development of humanitarian and family unification programs for Ezidis in Iraq, and resettle Ezidis who register with UNHCR in countries of first asylum like Türkiye and Lebanon. 

To the government of Greece:

• Ensure that Ezidi families are not separated in different camps, that they have access to needed health care while in camps, and that there is increased transparency about, and access to, effective translation during the adjudication of their applications for asylum. 

• Expand access to housing and, in cooperation with refugee-led organizations like Voice of Ezidis, develop integration programming for recognized Ezidi refugees (such as language classes and job training). 

• Improve refugee family unification for Ezidis by easing requirements and documentation and certification (for Greek asylum service and Greek consulates). 

 To the government of Germany:

• Stop deporting Ezidis to Iraq, where they have a well-founded fear of persecution and risk of violence, lack basic necessities of life, and cannot safely or practically live in areas of the country where they lack community or a way to support themselves.

• Give Ezidis who have come to Germany from Iraq since the summer of 2014 residence permits for international law and humanitarian reasons in accordance with Section 23 of the Residence Act. 

• Allow Ezidis in Greece (and other EU member states where they lack adequate support such as Cyprus) to be eligible for humanitarian admission programs to particular German states. 

To the government of France:

• Process Ezidi visa applications submitted in Erbil and develop an Ezidi family unification program modeled on Canada’s program for extended family members of survivors. 

To the government of the Netherlands:

• Develop a family unification program for relatives in Iraq of Ezidis who have gained asylum in the Netherlands. This is a common sense approach given support in the Dutch House of Representatives for a pathway to the Netherlands from Iraq for Ezidis and the operational challenges of using refugee resettlement for this purpose (as UNHCR will not refer Ezidis in Iraq for resettlement). 

• As a solidarity measure under the Pact on Migration and Asylum, relocate from Greece asylum seeking or refugee relatives (including those beyond immediate family) of Ezidis who are in the process of applying for asylum in the Netherlands or who have been granted asylum and are applying for family unification in the Netherlands.