Ezidis, thousands of whom still in displacement for six consecutive years, celebrated the Ezi feast today. Traditional dishes and delicacies were consumed and meat donated by the wealthy to the poor.
The Ezi feast is one of the main Ezidi religious holy days and is celebrated after three days of fasting.
For the hundreds of thousands of displaced Ezidis, most of whom live in camps in the Kurdistan Regions, this is the seventh time they celebrate this feast away from their homes since the brutal assault by ISIS on their home region Shingal district.
Each year, Ezidis fast for three days (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) in December, and on Friday they celebrate the Ezi holy day.
This year Ezidis celebrated the feast in anticipation of being sent back to their areas of origin as the Iraqi government has announced plans to close down all IDP camps by the end of the year.
The Ezidis currently form the majority of all IDPs in the country.
The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, congratulated Ezidis and expressed hope that their home regions will be reinhabited and life goes back to normal.
“As long as there is one kidnapped Ezidi left, we will keep trying to return them,” he added.
