Days of joy and hope. A struggle ahead. 

This week JHK was able to assist in the first reunion of Yazidi women from Iraq with their children born during captivity at the hands of Islamic State. 

These young women have survived unspeakable abuse. After being kidnapped in 2014, they were reduced to the status of merchandise to be bought and sold. Some were sold dozens of times. For years they endured the brutal whims of IS fighters, the jealous cruelty of their wives,  and the bombing raids and hunger as the "caliphate" collapsed around them.

The defeat of IS gave enslaved women a chance to return home, but at the price of abandoning the children who had given meaning to their lives in the darkest days of captivity. They were promised that this  separation was temporary, but the promise was a lie: instead they were ordered to forget, never to attempt to contact their children or even mention them again. 

Since then this brave group of women have fought a determined battle, facing ostracism and death threats, a battle all the more painful because it has sometimes put them at odds with their own families and religious leaders. 

We are grateful to everyone in Kurdistan and abroad who has worked to make this reunion possible, in some cases at great personal risk. We would particularly like to thank Peter Galbraith for his tireless efforts on the mothers' behalf in the US, Iraq and Syria. 

The struggle is not over. For now mothers and children are being cared for in a secure location, but the hostility they face because of their choices means it is not possible to live safe and free lives in Iraq. The only realistic alternative is asylum in a third country. We are urging the international community to take urgent action to facilitate resettlement as soon as possible.

You can read detailed press reports of this week's events in English and Swedish via the links below, including interviews with several of the mothers, Peter Galbraith, and JHK founder Nemam Ghafouri. 

Please consider showing your support by

• Contacting a local representative / member of parliament in your country and ask them to support humanitarian asylum for Yazidi survivors of slavery and  their children born of captivity.
• Making a donation to support ongoing protection and care for the children and their mothers until a permanent solution can be found.

Thank you for your continued support,

The JHK Team