Iraq: We Left Everything Under the Ruins

“We’re forced to live here, in this damp tent,” Edoo Murad tells us.

He is sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, next to his wife. She stares at the ground, stroking her fuchsia skirt with her fingers. “When ISIS invaded, my family and I lost everything,’ he tells us, beating his coarsened palms together.

“Everything. We have nothing left. We left everything in the ruins of our house in Sinjar. “Sure, I could have defended myself, done something. But I couldn’t. I didn’t even have shoes to walk in. My daughter was seriously ill. She has heart problems that means she’s always out of breath. But with no jobs or documents we really don’t know what to do,” he goes on.

Edoo Murad and his family found refuge in the camp at Ashti along with 10,700 other people. They have all escaped from the violence that still envelops the region. They have no home, no security and no prospects.

When will they be allowed to go home?