VOA慢速英语--Yazidi Children in Syria Await Family Reunions

 

U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants² said they freed more than 12 Yazidi children from IS last week. The children were released when the Syrian Democratic Forces evacuated⁴ civilians⁵ from the town of Baghuz. The children had been held by the militant¹ group for years.

Mustafa Bali is a spokesman for the Kurdish-led alliance. He wrote in a social media tweet, "Among many children saved from [IS] territory today, a group of Yazidi children also arrived to safe areas."

Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who live mostly in northern Iraq. They are viewed as infidels by IS extremists.

Sex slaves, soldiers

In August 2014, IS militants attacked Sinjar in northern Iraq, then home to the largest Yazidi community in the world. At least 5,000 Yazidis were killed during the attack, mostly men and boys. IS militants then kidnapped thousands of Yazidi children and women and made them work as child soldiers or sex slaves.

The 12 children recently freed in Baghuz are now in a special home near Hasaka, a Kurdish-held area in northeast Syria.

"I was held for more than four years," said Mazin Salim, 14, a former captive.

"Along with many other Yazidi children, I was then taken to a location in Syria. I believe it was Aleppo. After staying there for a few months, they (moved) us to Raqqa," he added.

Islamic State made Raqqa its capital. The city was taken from IS by the SDF with support from the U.S.-led coalition⁶ in October 2017.

The Yazidi teenager said that while he was held, IS brainwashed him with its extremist ideology⁷.

"In the beginning, they would beat me every day because I didn't know Arabic and didn't know anything about Islam," Salim explained. "But slowly, they taught me how to read… from the Quran."

Brainwashed children

While it controlled parts of Syria and Iraq, IS forced brainwashed and abused children to carry out suicide attacks, kill civilians and perform other cruel acts.

"I checked up on all of these children," said Shahin Hossein, a Kurdish doctor. He has been providing medical care to the Yazidi children since their arrival. "All of them have … psychological problems."

Hossein also said some of the children have been suffering from physical illnesses for a long time without receiving any treatment.

Since the battle to capture Baghuz began, SDF fighters have been better able to find Yazidi children and women.

“Since all civilians are leaving Baghuz, it is easier to identify Yazidis as they come out of the town," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told VOA.

Yazidi children and women are taken to a location that is separate from refugee camps for the other civilians fleeing IS.

"Our job is to receive them, give them medical treatment and then…. return to Sinjar," said Mahmoud Resho. He is part of Yazidi House Council, a local organization that supports Yazidi refugees and captives.

"So far, we have a total of 25 children and a woman who are waiting to go to their families in Sinjar," Resho told VOA.

Resho said the Iraqi government has recently closed its border with Syria. "That's why these people have been waiting for a while," he added.

Uncertainty⁸ about families

The Yazidi children rescued from IS in Syria have other problems as well. Many do not know where their families are now, Resho said.

"These kids have been kidnapped for almost five years. Some of their families are either killed or have migrated to Europe," he said.

Fourteen-year-old Salim says he does not know what he will find when he returns to Sinjar. “I miss my family so much,” he said. But he does not know whether they are alive or dead.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

evacuate³ – v. to remove someone from a dangerous place

infidel – n. a person who does not believe in a religion that someone regards as the true religion

teenager – n. a boy or girl between the ages of 13-18.

cruel – adj. used to describe people who hurt others and do not feel sorry about it

psychological – adj. of or relating to the mind

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。