Sinjar: Safe and Voluntary Return and Retraction to Conflicts and Violence!
We are extremely concerned as we observe the events in Sinjar and witness the escalation of tensions impeding positive peace and its sustainability since Thursday the 25th of April 2023, which have continued to this very day. It is rather unfortunate that the voices of hatred are louder than that of non-violent and result-based dialogue, which advances inter and intra community cohesion and peaceful coexistence in the district. This last week, Sinjar witnessed an increase in hate speech and public agitation denouncing the return of a number of displaced Muslim families to the district center where a group of people went out in their folds joining organized protests denouncing the return of these families they perceive to have been affiliated with ISIS and/or participated in the genocidal crimes that were perpetuated against the Yazidi community. The deterioration of events in Sinjar was exploited by sensationalist journalism on social media platforms with an invested interest in polarizing the Sinjar ethno-religious communities through fake news. Thus, exacerbating the existing tensions and driving intra and inter community divisions that threaten societal peace in the district.
As Un Ponte Per, we are staunch believers in non-violent dialogue to conflict transformation as an ideal alternative to hate and violence, which have destabilized Sinjar rather than mitigated the tensions and contributed to building and sustaining positive peace.
Thus, we call on all the people of Sinjar and Iraqi people, in general, to approach these events with great vigilance and refrain from engaging with what is being published by provocative social media pages and fake news websites that aim to polarize the communities and destabilize the district, an objective that does not serve the interest of the common people of the various ethno-religious communities of Sinjar.
Therefore, we call upon the Iraqi government to advance an agenda for restorative justice and take action to that effect. These actions should include, but not be restricted to, robustly vetting the returning families and prosecuting those who perpetrated crimes against the Yazidi community. We also call on the public to avoid being drawn along partisan lines lest they fall victim to vying political discourses seeking to advance their respective interest on the account of stability and peace in Sinjar.
1 May 2023
Iraqi Staff of Un Ponte Per