Yazidis praised by UN for accepting children of rape

Yazidi faith leaders have announced they will accept the children who are the result of Yazidi women being raped by Islamic State fighters, in what was yesterday called a ‘‘historic’’ decision. Thousands of women and young girls belonging to the religious minority were kidnapped from their homeland in Sinjar, northern Iraq, in 2014, and sold into sexual slavery by IS, which considers the Yazidis devilworshippers because of their mystical beliefs. Hundreds were rescued from Iraq and Syria as IS lost its territory, but what to do with their offspring has proved a thorny issue for the insular group. While a small number have been welcomed by the women’s families, most mothers rescued have had to make an impossible choice between returning home alone or living outside of the community with their ‘‘illegitimate’’ children. As a result, some have been abandoned in camps in Syria and in orphanages in Iraq. ‘‘The council has sent Yazidi clerics to Syria to follow up on the issue and to bring all the survivors home,’’ the Yazidi supreme spiritual council said on Thursday. ‘‘We have accepted that what happened to them was out of their control. The Yazidis were throughout history victims of crime and we treat survivors with pride, humanity and transparency.’’ The move was described as ‘‘historic’’ and welcomed by the UN, which called it a ‘‘momentous step on the road to rebuilding their community, emphasising the innocence and dignity of children in conflict’’.