In an overcrowded Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Sheikhan, Iraq, 24-year-old Kovan looks at pictures of her absent children, a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. It has been four months since she last saw them, following her rescue from the notorious Al Hol camp, home to wives, widows, children, and other family members of Islamic State group (IS) militants. Kovan, along with other Yazidi women rescued from Al Hol, had to leave behind her children born in IS captivity to return home.
Kovan’s story is a tragic one, reflecting the ongoing and complex issue of children born to IS fighters and their female Yazidi victims. After being taken captive in 2014, Kovan was subjected to unimaginable horrors before being rescued in 2019 by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Now, separated from her children and living in fear of the extremist ideology still present in the Al Hol camp, Kovan dreams of reuniting with her children and finding asylum in Europe.
While the fate of these children remains uncertain, efforts are being made to reunite them with their mothers, providing a glimmer of hope for Kovan and others like her who continue to carry the scars of their traumatic past.
Author: Hannah Wallace