Nadia Murad, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you so much for having me.
And I-I-- It-It's my honor
to be with you and joining you today.
Before we start, I just want to remind your-your viewers
that today is the World Day Against Human Trafficking.
And it is our collective responsibility
to-to end, uh, uh, the human trafficking.
And, um, I hope everyone can-can help
to-to raise, uh, awareness about these-these topics.
You-you have spoken about this,
and-and I think that's why your story is so powerful.
Because many people... thought of ISIS--
And, you know, there was a point where it was
all that was in the news.
And once the larger caliphate was defeated,
people thought the story was finished.
But you-you've been an advocate speaking out,
saying there are so many women
who are still the victims of sex trafficking
and sexual violence at the hands of ISIS,
at the hands of this Islamic State,
the-- you know, that's trying to create terror
through the abuse of women's bodies.
What are some of the things that you think
the international community could be doing to help?
You know, I wish that our, uh...
uh, our pain and what is happening to us right now
after six years of what ISIS did to us,
I wish it was done with
when-when they killed Baghdadi or other ISIS,
but this is not the reality.
The reality is that we have...
Until today, we have 2,000 Yazidi women and children
still in captivity.
Uh, including my sister-in-law, my niece, my nephew.
We have more than 85 mass graves in Sinjar right now.
Uh, we have more than, uh, 60%
of the Yazidi community is displaced.
Um, our homeland is destroyed.
And what ISIS came not just for one or two days.
ISIS... uh, ISIS left behind them,
the, uh, a-a community
that will not recover
without the support of international community.
A year ago, you met
with the president of the United States,
Donald Trump, and in the Oval Office.
And I actually want to show a little clip of that meeting.
Right.
All right.
Right.
Yeah.
So you had to explain to him the situation on the ground.
Since then, have you heard back, or has anything changed,
or has anything been done to try and remedy what is happening
to the Yazidis and especially the women?
With the U.S. government, we have been doing a lot of work.
Uh, Vice President Mike Pence, he...
From the beginning, he's a big support
to our case, to-to Yazidi to go back.
I think one of the most difficult challenges
I have faced since the beginning,
that my community was not well-known to other people.
Right.
Even... presidents around the world.
And, uh, it was difficult for me to go and explain to them
who we are, what happened to us.
I think 20 days later, I had met them again in France,
in the, uh, G7, um, uh, in France,
-and, uh, I think they got the message. -Mm-hmm.
And this was, uh, this was my-my work,
advocating for my community
and many other communities around the world,
to make sure, uh,
that people would know what happened to us,
so they won't try to-to do something...
Like, Yazidi or others will not go through that things again.
When we see images of people
who are fleeing countries as refugees,
oftentimes we are told the story,
especially in Western media, that these people want
to look for a better life in another country,
but you talk about how much pride people have
for their homeland, how much people want to go home.
Do you think that if the Iraqi government
and the international community could come together
to fix these regions and rehabilitate what has happened,
do you think people will come back?
You know, I don't think those people
that have already made it to Europe or Canada
or other places will go back soon,
because they are seeing the other peoples
in Iraq still displaced.
But when...
why I started to focus on my homeland,
as-as someone who... who was kidnapped,
as someone who lived as a refugee, displaced,
is because I knew
that no one is trying to... to take more refugees.
And we can... they can help us
and other-other small communities
and other countries for people can go back,
but without support and safety, we cannot go back.
-Right. -I-I can tell you
that I'm not happy to be a refugee after...
after spending my, like,
entire life with my family.
You always wanted to stay in your home,
and it's not something that I wish to be a refugee, no.
It's not... it's not that easy.
Right.
The fact that you faced so many atrocities at the hands of ISIS,
you-you've been through things
that no human being could ever imagine going through,
and yet, you've used it to become an advocate
for the change you want to see.
And you're trying to move the world
into a more positive place.
Where did you find the strength, or what keeps you going
in a fight that seems so unwinnable sometimes?
You know, since... since the first day it started,
it's-it's not something easy.
I came from a small community, a-a family
that we were, uh...
uh, we were 11 siblings, we...
My mother raised us by her... like, on her own.
Uh, she was a single mother.
It was not easy for her.
Uh, they came to me, my family, my community.
They-they raped us, they killed my mother.
They killed six of my brothers
who left behind them six widows
with 21 minor children,
uh, like so many other people,
many other Yazidi families who are still waiting
to... to one day, uh,
to... to see our...
our family members, uh, like,
bury them in a...
in our homeland.
I don't think it's something that I want to do it.
I... I'm not happy with all these things
because I was part of what happened,
but I have no other choice.
And I guess that's, that's the painful truth.
You don't have a choice and...
I feel like if everyone in the world felt
like they didn't have a choice, then, hopefully,
governments would step up and do something about it.
And, especially, on a day like today,
um, hopefully, we can stand together
and have the right people hear the message
that we have to try and fight against sex trafficking
and the trafficking of women around the world,
no matter where-where or how it's happening.
Thank you so much for having me.
Forgive me, my English was not good.
I'm trying to study hard, because I wasn't able
to finish high school. Stay safe and please
wear you mask for your safety and the safety of everyone else.
-Thank you so much. -Thank you so much.