SHARYA CAMP, Iraq — Thousands of Yazidi families currently face a dire humanitarian situation. They have been scattered in refugee camps, while the fate of hundreds of Yazidi girls who were kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) remains unknown.

Not only has IS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women, it has also killed, expelled, seized the properties of and and set fire to the homes of other Yazidis. This occurred when IS took control of Sinjar and the Ninevah Plains after the withdrawal of peshmerga forces.

In a speech addressed to the public of Iraqi Kurdistan, President Massoud Barzani said that he dismissed all security, military and partisan officials who were in charge of protecting Sinjar. A fact-finding committee has been formed to determine the punishment of all officials found guilty of neglect in their task of protecting citizens.

The control of IS over Sinjar has forced thousands of Yazidis to flee to the Sinjar Mountains, their only escape from death. Youssef Qarmo’s family was among those who headed to the mountains in the hope of cheating death.