美国组织帮助伊拉克雅迪兹人

美国组织帮助伊拉克雅迪兹人

KATY, TEXAS— Attacks by the self-styled "Islamic State," also known as ISIL, on the Yazidi religious minority in the mountains of northern Iraq have driven thousands of men, women and children into refugee camps -- where life remains 1 uncertain and difficult. Small Yazidi immigrant communities in the U.S. heartland are trying to provide relief to their brethren in Iraq and alert the world to their plight 2.

What haunts Murad Ismael is a cell phone call from a Yazidi woman after Islamic State fighters captured her and her companions last year.

让穆拉德·伊斯梅尔不安的是去年一名雅兹迪妇女的来电，当时她和同伴刚被伊斯兰国武装分子逮捕。

“They shot four more women. I could hear them shooting. Then they threw them away, they threw their bodies away. They said their bodies had been kept for the dogs,” he said.

“他们还对另外四名妇女开枪，我能听到她们的叫声，然后他们将她们的尸体扔掉，称已把尸体扔给狗了。”

Harrowing stories

Ismael said women who have escaped tell many stories of young girls committing suicide rather than be used as sex slaves.

伊斯梅尔说，那些逃跑的妇女讲述了很多年轻女孩的故事，这些女孩们宁愿自杀也不愿意被当做性奴。

“It is not fair, it is not fair, and that is the fate of all the Yazidi women who are captured,” he said.

“太不公平了，这就是所有被捕雅迪兹妇女的命运。”

Last year, when the ISIL attacks began, Ismael and other Yazidis in the Houston area — along with members of a large Yazidi community in Lincoln, Nebraska — formed a group called Yazda.

去年，当伊斯兰国袭击开始时，伊斯梅尔和休斯顿地区其他雅迪兹人，以及内布拉斯加州林肯郡一个大型雅迪兹社区成员一道成立了名叫Yazda的组织。

Yazda President Haider Elias said it was difficult at first because few Americans had ever heard of the Yazidis.

Yazda主席海德尔·伊莱亚斯称最初很艰难，因为很少有美国人听说过雅迪兹人。

“We had to introduce them to the Yazidi religion first and then present the issue,” Elias said.

“一开始我们只得给他们介绍雅迪兹宗教，然后讲述这个问题。”

Elias told people about the Yazidis’ religious traditions, which draw influences from Islam and other religions, but draw only scorn from radical 3 Muslims.

伊莱亚斯给人们讲述雅迪兹的宗教传统，该宗教受到伊斯兰教和其他宗教的影响，但却受到极端穆斯林的嘲弄。

Yazda's efforts

Yazda operates a relief center in Iraq and is now trying to provide psychological therapy for female victims of rape 4 and abuse.

Yazda在伊拉克运营了一个救援中心，目前在努力给强奸和虐待案的女性受害者提供心理治疗。

But Elias said the United Nations should do more than set up refugee camps for these victims of attempted genocide.

但伊莱亚斯说联合国应该做更多努力，而不仅仅是为种族屠杀受害者提供难民营。

“We have been very frustrated 5 with those great countries that are handling or making decisions for the UN. They have not been doing anything to help the Yazidis specifically,” she said.

“我们对这些为联合国处理事宜或做决定的大国感到沮丧，他们根本没有专门为雅迪兹人做过什么。”

At the end of this month, Murad Ismael plans to return to Iraq to assess the Yazidis’ situation and gather testimony 6 from ISIL victims.

穆拉德·伊斯梅尔本月底计划回到伊拉克，来评估雅迪兹人的处境，并从伊斯兰国受害者那里获得证词。