Yazidis in Syria

Yazidis in Syria refer to people born in or residing in Syria who adhere to Yazidism,[3] a strictly endogamous religion.[4][5] Yazidis speak the Kurdish language of Kurmanji.[3]

Yazidism dates back to pre-Islamic times. During the 15th and 16th centuries, they migrated from southern Turkey and settled in their present mountainous stronghold of Jabal Sinjar in northeastern Syria and Iraq. Although some are scattered in Turkey and the Armenia, Iraq is the center of their religious life, the home of their Amir, and of the tomb of their most revered saint, Sheikh Adi.[6]

Yazidis in Syria live primarily in two communities, one in the Al-Jazira area and the other in the Kurd-Dagh.[3] Population numbers for the Syrian Yazidi community are unclear. In 1963, the community was estimated at about 10,000, according to the national census, but numbers for 1987 were unavailable.[7] There may be between about 12,000 and 15,000 Yazidis in Syria today,[3][8] though more than half of the community may have emigrated from Syria since the 1980s.[9] Estimates are further complicated by the arrival of as many as 50,000 Yazidi refugees from Iraq during the Iraq War.[9] Since 2014, more Yazidis from Iraq have sought refuge in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to escape the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL.[10][11][12]

In 2014, there were about 40,000 Yazidis in Syria, primarily in the Al-Jazirah.[13] Following the extension of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria into the Kurdish-majority Afrin District, reports have emerged of Yazidis in demographically mixed villages of the Kurd-Dagh region being targeted by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) because of their religious identity,[14] as well as having their shrines descrated.[15] Kidnapping of Yazidi women and girls by the SNA is an ongoing problem.[16][17][18][19][20]