Ireland

‘I felt that life has no value and it’s better to die’: Yazidi woman on experience of being sexually enslaved by Isis

Shireen Khero, a Yazidi from Iraq, was abducted by Isis in 2014 but luckily escaped three years later. She is in Ireland to mark the 10th anniversary of Isis atrocities against the Yazidi community

Shireen Khero says most of her childhood friends are missing with some of their remains identified in mass graves. She was moved around by Isis while in captivity and felt 'fear, anxiousness and worrying' about what would happen. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
Shireen Khero says most of her childhood friends are missing with some of their remains identified in mass graves. She was moved around by Isis while in captivity and felt 'fear, anxiousness and worrying' about what would happen. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
Sarah Burns
Tue Sept 10 2024 - 20:42

A young woman who was sexually enslaved by Islamic State (Isis) has said she felt that life had “no value” and it was “better to die” than be kept in captivity.

Shireen Khero (30), who is visiting Dublin, said she was “luckier” than others as she managed to escape after almost three years which felt like “3,000 years”.

Ms Khero, a member of the Yazidi ethnic community in Iraq, was abducted by Isis in August 2014, aged 19, before finally escaping in 2017.

Shireen Khero, a member of the Yazidi ethnic community in Iraq, was held by Islamic State for more than 2½ years. She has spoken at a Department of Foreign Affairs event in Dublin. Video: Bryan O'Brien

She was captured alongside her parents, two sisters and grandmother. Her father was murdered shortly afterwards, while his remains were not returned to her family until January of this year, after they were removed from a mass grave. Ms Khero said one of her uncles was also killed by Isis while two others remain missing.

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The Yazidi genocide left 5,000 people dead or missing, with 6,000 women and children taken into slavery and more than 400,000 people, two-thirds of the Yazidi population, displaced from northern Iraq.

[ Yazidi survivors of Isis crimes need more help from international community ]

Ms Khero was invited to Ireland by the Department of Foreign Affairs and was speaking at an event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Isis atrocities against the Yazidi community on Tuesday.

“I was captured with my family and I didn’t know what happened to them because they separated all of us,” she said.

“They killed my father on August 3rd, 2014, the same date that they took him from us. Each one of us managed to escape from Isis at different periods of time; my grandmother managed to escape after five months, then my mother after more than one year with my little sister, and then me after 2½ years and then my younger sister after more than four years.

“Some of my other relatives, they managed to escape from Isis as well, but it was hard, and lots of them couldn’t manage to escape. I feel that I was lucky to have my family after all that happened to us. I’m luckier than others.”

[ Yazidi women and girls still enslaved by Isis within detention camp ]

She added that “most” of her childhood friends were also missing with some of their remains identified in mass graves.

Ms Khero said she was constantly moved around by Isis while in captivity and felt “fear, anxiousness and worrying” about what would happen to her and her family.

Shireen Khero, a member of the Yazidi ethnic community in Iraq, was held by ISIS for over two and a half years. She spoke at an event organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ISIS atrocities against the Yazidi Community in Iraq. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Shireen Khero, a member of the Yazidi ethnic community in Iraq, was held by ISIS for over two and a half years. She spoke at an event organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ISIS atrocities against the Yazidi Community in Iraq. Photo: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times

However, she added that at the time she was “not scared of death” and felt that “death was my friend”.

“When I was in captivity, I felt that life has no value and it’s better to die, not to live in this hell, because it was so hard,” she said.

Ms Khero said when she finally managed to escape, she was unsure where to go as her home had been destroyed by an air strike. She lived in an internally displaced person (IDP) camp for two years before securing an apartment in Duhok.

She finished her high school education and applied to university in Kurdistan, graduating with a degree in business earlier this year with a resilience honour award.

[ Isis takes advantage of withdrawal of coalition forces in Iraq ]

“I had dreamed about finishing my college education with good grades and mastering the English language,” she said.

“I also wanted to learn other languages and learn about different cultures. I wanted to finish my high school working at the same time to save money for my sister who was still in captivity, as well as taking care of my sick grandmother.”

Ms Khero said she has also spent recent years dedicating her efforts to advocate for and encourage Yazidi survivors. She said while there were some NGOs providing services, there needed to be health specialists to help survivors deal with their experiences.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times