From genocide to justice: Iraq's reparations for Yazidi survivors

Guarantees of non-repetition: security, legal reform, education, accountability, and institutions capable of preventing renewed violence.

What the Yazidi Survivors Law promised

The Iraqi Parliament adopted the Yazidi Survivors Law on 1 March 2021. The law covers women and girls from the Yazidi, Turkmen, Christian, and Shabak communities who survived specified ISIS crimes, Yazidi children who were abducted, and survivors from these four communities who escaped mass-killing operations. It formally recognizes that ISIS committed genocide and crimes against humanity and establishes a state-administered reparations program. (https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/2021/124274)

For approved applicants, the law and its implementation framework provide:

Monthly financial support: a minimum monthly payment of 800,000 Iraqi dinars.

Health and recovery: medical care, mental-health and psychosocial support, and rehabilitation.

Education and work: routes back into education and priority opportunities in public employment.

Housing and land: access to residential land, housing-related support, and real-estate lending.

Truth and remembrance: searches for missing people, mass-grave work, identification, and return of remains, and memorialization.

Accountability and prevention: support for prosecutions, public education, and measures intended to prevent recurrence.

This law is one of the few nationally administered reparations frameworks that explicitly addresses conflict-related sexual violence. Its adoption also demonstrates that sustained survivor advocacy can lead to meaningful policy change.

Progress and recognition

Implementation of the law was initially slow, but the first salary cards for monthly financial support were distributed in March 2023. For survivors who had waited years for official recognition, this marked both a practical and symbolic milestone. As Manal, a survivor from Sinjar and a member of the Survivors Voices Network, said: