Pictured above: Instead of fleeing the brutality of Islamic State, people can now turn their cars around and drive back to their villages.
The Islamic State expelled the couple from their home in the Nineveh Plain - simply because they were not Sunni Muslims. The villages where the repatriation project has unfolded are Tell al-Laban, Kuzahkan, Wardak and Al-Majidia east of Mosul, which were some of the first to be liberated from the Islamic State. In the project, the villages' schools, medical clinics, electricity and water supply have now almost been restored. Here I interviewed the couple about their escape and return.
What is your story? How are you feeling?
We had a good life. We had to flee, but now we are back in our home region.
Can you describe how Islamic State's conquests after 2014 affected your life and how you had to flee?
At three o'clock in the morning we got a call and were told that we had to flee, so we left everything. We left our cattle, sheep, everything. It was at the beginning of winter.
What was the situation like as a refugee?
We went to the small town of Khabat [near Erbil in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq], stayed with a relative for 45 days and then rented a house. It was hard to live there. When winter came, we had a very hard time and Laktar got diabetes. We felt like fish that had been pulled out of the water and hung to dry, but you helped with blankets, coats and kerosene stoves in winter and food parcels. In the summer, each family was given a refrigerator.
As displaced people, we felt like fish pulled out of the water and hung to dry, but you helped with food, blankets, coats and kerosene stoves in the winter. Zaya and Laktar
What does it mean to you to be back home and able to rebuild your home and your village? How are you feeling now?
We are very happy to be back because we love our home region. It has been a great help that you repaired all these things for us, so now we have a good life again.
Has this project helped you return to your village? How has it helped you?
Our house hadn't collapsed, but we had to repair it because the Islamic State had been using it for 2½ years. At first it was very difficult to return, but thanks to the demining organizations, the landmines have been removed (there were over 2000 in these villages alone). Then you repaired the roads, the electricity supply and the electrical installations in the schools. All these things helped us to return.
Have you considered leaving the country and did this project help you stay?
Many people considered leaving the country, or at least not returning to the village (we also considered staying in Khabat or another town). If you had not repaired the schools and electricity supply, it would have been very difficult to return. Our relatives who lived in the village (seven brothers and sisters and their families) have also returned.
Image: Children and young people can now live and rebuild their lives in the areas Islamic State had driven them from.
What are your concerns and hopes for the future?
We are not afraid of what will happen in the future, but we want to stay here and not have to move again. The new community center that your organization is building will help (Zaya was also involved in another project for women where she taught sewing).
Do you think your children and grandchildren will have a good life here?
We hope that they will have a good future here. For months we were afraid that the Shia militias would come here. We traveled to Khabat again for a week in September, but nothing happened in the village.
Is there anything you would like to say to those who made this project possible?
We would like to thank these people for getting us everything we needed at the right time (like blankets in winter and coolers in summer). Thank you so much for sending money and help! Your organization helped everyone without discrimination - poor and those who were rich before, whoever needed help now," Zaya and Laktar conclude.
The reconstruction work is not yet complete, but you can help the project reach its goal. It costs an average of DKK 827 to ensure that a displaced Iraqi can return home and a total of DKK 650,000 to complete the project. You can help the brave returnees reach the finish line so that infrastructure, schools, clinics and electricity and water supply are completed in all four villages. Please extend a helping hand to people who have suffered so much on the run from Islamic State, but have found the courage to return home to rebuild their communities.
