NPR

In Syria, An Orphanage Cares For Children Born To Yazidi Mothers Enslaved By ISIS

Because their fathers were ISIS fighters, the Yazidi community rejects the children and forces their mothers to give them up. Some willingly do so, but others are desperate for news of their children.
Caregiver Fajriya Khaled holds a child at an orphanage in northeastern Syria, home to 41 children of Yazidi mothers and ISIS fathers. The Yazidi community in Iraq forces the women to leave their children behind if they want to return home.

A little girl with enormous blue eyes watches, mesmerized, as Fajriya Khaled gives a tiny 3-month-old baby a bottle.

The girl is one-and-a-half. She wears a white party dress with sequins and pink roses on the bodice, and a pink sash. On her wrist is a string bracelet — perhaps for luck. In her ears are the gold earrings she was wearing when she was brought to the orphanage as a baby — a sign that, although abandoned, she was not unloved.

She is one of 41 children in this orphanage in northeastern Syria born to ISIS fighters and the Iraqi Yazidi women they enslaved when ISIS ruled over large parts of Iraq and Syria, starting in 2014.

Forced by Iraq's Yazidi community to give up the children, and told that the children

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR1 min read
New Music Friday: The best albums out June 14
This week, NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Ann Powers steer the New Music Friday podcast straight into the oncoming Father's Day weekend, following the lead of country superstar Luke Combs, whose new album Fathers & Sons is a heartfelt meditati
NPR1 min read
How The FBI's Fake Cell Phone Company Put Criminals Into Real Jail Cells
There is a constant arms race between law enforcement and criminals, especially when it comes to technology. For years, law enforcement has been frustrated with encrypted messaging apps, like Signal and Telegram. And law enforcement has been even mor
NPR1 min read
What's With All The Tiny Soda Cans? And Other Grocery Store Mysteries, Solved.
There's a behind the scenes industry that helps big brands decide questions like: How big should a bag of chips be? What's the right size for a bottle of shampoo? And yes, also: When should a company do a little shrinkflation? From Cookie Monster to

Related Books & Audiobooks