
3,000 Yazidis Are Still Missing. Their Families Know Where Some of Them Are.
The New York Times
Seven years after they were captured by the Islamic State, some members of the Iraqi religious minority are still being held captive by fighters in Syria. Others are with families of ISIS militants.
The voice messages sent by Abbas Hussein’s teenage son are heartbreaking in their matter-of-factness. The boy, a member of Iraq’s Yazidi minority who was kidnapped by Islamic State fighters seven years ago, asks about his mother and wonders why his father has not been in touch.
In the messages sent last summer to his father, an unemployed laborer, the son says his captor will not let him send any more because his parents have not delivered payments as demanded.
“Father, if you don’t have money, that’s OK. Just let me know,” says the teenager, who still has the voice of a child. “I will work and save money and give it to him to let me talk to you.”