Nadia Murad, a former ISIS sex slave, spoke to Congress yesterday about the horrific abuse she said she endured while held captive by the Islamic State. When expressing her condolences for the victims of the Orlando shooting, Murad said she was also not at all surprised about the terror attack.
“I knew if ISIS were not stopped, they would deliver their crimes everywhere,” Nadia Murad also told Congress.
The Yazidi woman escaped life as an ISIS sex slave in 2014. During her testimony in front of the Senate Homeland Security committee, Nadia Murad urged America to act now. She also said ISIS killed her mother and six brothers in a single day, CNN reports.
“We must terminate Daesh [ISIS] and all such terror,” the former ISIS sex slave said. “Daesh will not give up their weapons unless we force them to give up their weapons. The Yazidi people cannot wait.”
Human Rights Activist Nadia Murad: Daesh killed my mother and six brothers in one day. pic.twitter.com/uxWbPDOz7A
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) June 21, 2016
Nadia Murad wants the United States to do something President Barack Obama has continually opted against doing. The former ISIS sex slave wants America, and other nations fighting the war against radical Islamic terrorism, to create a “safe and protected zone” for religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.
Donald Trump has frequently advocated for creating safe zones in the Middle East, and not “resettling” the refugees in America for several reasons. Trump cited a vast reduction in cost as a factor, national security issues based upon FBI Director James Comey’s concerns about the current background check system used when interviewing the refugees, and so the Syrians and Iraqis would still be living within their own culture and be far more able to return to their homeland after the ISIS threat is terminated.
Delaware Senator Tom Carper asked Nadia Murad if she feels the United States should allow more refugees from the Middle East into the country.
“Every country has the right to protect itself and its borders but the people who are escaping from the religious discrimination and genocide should not face closed doors,” Murad responded.
#Yezidi activist Nadia Murad urges world to not be ambivalent to ISIS crimes https://t.co/xRE0yjfEiH pic.twitter.com/IhyX6Vroby
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) June 22, 2016
The former ISIS sex slave also feels not only the Yazidis but all other religious minorities in Islamic State territory will be “wiped out” if they do not get protection, the Blaze reports. Yazidis are ethnic Kurds and belong to an ancient religion which is followed primarily in Iraq.
Nadia Murad also maintained “thousands” of Yazidi women and girls have been raped and turned into ISIS sex slaves. According to a report by the United Nations, ISIS currently has 3,500 such slaves. The U.N. report also stated the women and children taken by Islamic State members are subjected to sexual violence.
She said she was able to escape after a Muslim family in Mosul helped her garner the fake identification she needed to leave Islamic State territory.
“I was freed, but I do not have the feeling of the freedom because those who have committed these crimes have not been held accountable,” Murad added. “What has been happening has been happening under the name of Islam. The Muslims must be the first ones to resist this.”
Murad said ISIS has not been labeled an infidel group within the Islamic community or in any Muslim country. The young woman is calling on all Muslims to denounce the Islamic State and the rapes, murders, and genocide she believes the Islamic State conducts on a routine basis.
Do you think the United States should allow more Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States?
[Image by AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File]