Secretary Antony J. Blinken Before his Meeting with Yezidi Civil Society Leaders

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning, everyone.  We’re here today ahead of the ten-year commemoration of the ISIS genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims – genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing against these and other groups.  I have very strong memories of that time, having served in government when the attacks took place.  I remember powerfully the suffering, the desperation of so many people, and the United States engagement to do everything we could to turn that around and to help protect those who were endangered.

I think one of the most meaningful ways that we can remember ten years on – not only remember, but honor the victims – is to hear their stories, to remind ourselves of what people experienced, and continue to experience in different ways.  Between 2014 and 2017, ISIS displaced millions of Iraqis from their historic homelands, including the majority of Iraq’s Yezidi population.  We’ve worked hand-in-hand with civil society, with community leaders from across Iraq’s religious and ethnic components, to help these communities recover, to advance Iraq’s stability and sovereignty, and, of course, to do everything possible to make sure that ISIS cannot rear its ugly head again.

Over that period of time, we’ve invested some $500 million specifically targeted toward the recovery of communities that were most affected by ISIS.  This investment is on top of billions of dollars in assistance that we provided to help those who were most in need.

Some of the organizations that we’ve partnered with over these years are represented here today, and I’m grateful to each of you – not just for being here today, but for the work that you’re doing every single day to help do justice to those who were victimized so terribly by ISIS.

I think we’ve made progress, but much work remains to be done, and this recovery continues.  Over one million Iraqis remain displaced inside Iraq, including about 300,000 Yezidis; 2,600 Yezidis remain missing and unaccounted for.  We are determined to find them, to learn their fates, and to rescue those who remain alive. 

Today what I wanted to do was simply underscore our own commitment to supporting the ongoing recovery of the communities that most suffered under ISIS, delivering accountability to those responsible for this tragedy, and ensuring that this can never happen again and that ISIS will not resurge.  So mostly we’re here to listen to our friends and partners, to hear again some of the stories, to hear in particular what we can do – what we can continue to do – to do right by those victimized by ISIS.

So I thank you all very much for being here.  Thanks, everyone.