Yazidi Refugees Reach Safety Away From Islamic State Hordes | HuffPost

Yazidi Refugees Reach Safety Away From Islamic State Hordes

Paul Vale— The Huffington Post UK

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More than 20,000 members of the Yazidi sect have been escorted by Kurdish forces away from Mount Sinjar in Northern Iraq after US air raids rained ordnance on Islamic State positions surrounding the refugees.

Having escaped through a corridor created by Kurdish forces, members of the community have been housed in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak. On Wednesday, the US forces said there were "far fewer" Yazidi left marooned on the mountain than expected, making a "boots-on-the-ground" evacuation mission less likely.

On Thursday, the United Nations gave the humanitarian crisis in Iraq the highest level of emergency, following months of human displacement as IS fighters rampaged across the country, persecuting Christian and Yazidi minorities, as well as threatening Iraqi Kurds in the north.

As the IS hordes approached Sinjar earlier this month, tens of thousands of Yazidis fled to the nearby mountain, where many perished without water and in stifling heat. Both Iraqi and US military forces have dropped supplies to the refugees, with more than 45,000 reportedly escaping in recent days. According to AP, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis have so far been displaced by bloody conflict.

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Yazidi Refugees

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Distribution of juice drink cartons to Yazidi refugees (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near Turkey-Iraq border aty Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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An Iraqi girl from the Yazidi community is pictured in a refugee camp near Turkey-Iraq border in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near Turkey-Iraq border in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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A doctor checks a Iraqi baby from the Yazidi community in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi children from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi children from the Yazidi community wait in a refugee camp nearthe Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Iraqi people from the Yazidi community are pictured in a refugee camp near the Turkey-Iraq border at Silopi in Sirnak on August 14, 2014. (credit:ILYAS AKENGIN via Getty Images)

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Yazidis living in refugee camps in Silopi district on August 13, 2014 in Sirnak, Turkey. The group fled after attacks by ISIS militants in their homeland in the Sinjar region of Iraq. The Yazidis passed into Turkey through a border crossing and settled in unused buildings in the the Silopi district of Şırnak on August 6. Doctors dispatched by the Silopi authorities examined the Yazidis and two were hospitalised. (credit:Ali Guven / Cihan / Barcroft. )

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Yazidis living in refugee camps in Silopi district on August 13, 2014 in Sirnak, Turkey. The group fled after attacks by ISIS militants in their homeland in the Sinjar region of Iraq. The Yazidis passed into Turkey through a border crossing and settled in unused buildings in the the Silopi district of Şırnak on August 6. Doctors dispatched by the Silopi authorities examined the Yazidis and two were hospitalised. (credit:Ali Guven / Cihan / Barcroft. )

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Yazidis living in refugee camps in Silopi district on August 13, 2014 in Sirnak, Turkey. The group fled after attacks by ISIS militants in their homeland in the Sinjar region of Iraq. The Yazidis passed into Turkey through a border crossing and settled in unused buildings in the the Silopi district of Şırnak on August 6. Doctors dispatched by the Silopi authorities examined the Yazidis and two were hospitalised. (credit:Ali Guven / Cihan / Barcroft. )

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Yazidis living in refugee camps in Silopi district on August 13, 2014 in Sirnak, Turkey. The group fled after attacks by ISIS militants in their homeland in the Sinjar region of Iraq. The Yazidis passed into Turkey through a border crossing and settled in unused buildings in the the Silopi district of Şırnak on August 6. Doctors dispatched by the Silopi authorities examined the Yazidis and two were hospitalised. (credit:Ali Guven / Cihan / Barcroft. )

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Displaced Iraqi families from the Yazidi community cross the Iraqi-Syrian border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. At least 20,000 civilians, most of whom are from the Yazidi community, who had been besieged by jihadists on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq have safely escaped to Syria and been escorted by Kurdish forces back into Iraq, officials said. The breakthrough coincided with US air raids on Islamic State fighters in the Sinjar area of northwestern Iraq on August 9, and Kurdish forces from Iraq, Syria and Turkey working together to break the siege of Mount Sinjar and rescue the displaced. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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Displaced Iraqi families from the Yazidi community cross the Iraqi-Syrian border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community cross the Syrian-Iraqi border along the Fishkhabur bridge over the Tigris River at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community cross the Syrian-Iraqi border along the Fishkhabur bridge over the Tigris River at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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A displaced Iraqi father from the Yazidi community carries his barefoot daughter after crossing the Syrian-Iraqi border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community rest after crossing the Syrian-Iraqi border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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A displaced Iraqi mother from the Yazidi community carries her baby to safety as after crossing the Syrian-Iraqi border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE via Getty Images)

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