By Fawzia Amin Saydo, a 21-year-old Yazidi woman, has emerged from a decade of unimaginable horror to share her story of survival and resilience. Kidnapped by ISIS at the tender age of 11, Fawzia endured years of captivity, abuse, and trauma at the hands of both ISIS and Hamas before her recent rescue from Gaza.
In a heart-wrenching interview with documentarian Alan Duncan, Fawzia revealed the depths of cruelty she experienced. Her ordeal began in August 2014 when ISIS fighters stormed her hometown of Sinjar in northern Iraq, part of a genocidal campaign against the Yazidi people that saw thousands murdered and kidnapped.
Fawzia’s account paints a horrifying picture of life under ISIS rule. She described being starved for days before being fed meat that she later learned was from slaughtered babies – a revelation that caused one woman to die from shock. This act of unspeakable barbarism was just the beginning of her nightmare.
Trafficked to Syria, Fawzia spent nine months in an underground prison in Raqqa with 200 other captives. She was bought and sold five times by ISIS fighters, enduring repeated sexual and physical abuse. By the age of 15, she had given birth to two children, products of rape by her captor, a Palestinian ISIS militant.
Following ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2018, Fawzia was sent to the notorious Al-Hawl camp in Syria. There, she faced further abuse from ISIS women before eventually being taken to Gaza via a harrowing journey through Turkey and Egypt.
In Gaza, Fawzia’s suffering continued under Hamas rule. She described being virtually imprisoned by her dead captor’s family and subjected to regular beatings. Fawzia drew parallels between ISIS and Hamas, stating, “There is no difference between Hamas and ISIS.” She recounted being forced to work in hospitals that doubled as Hamas bases, surrounded by armed fighters.
Fawzia’s rescue was a complex operation involving authorities from Israel, the US, and Iraq. She reached out for help via WhatsApp, initiating a months-long process that finally led to her freedom on October 1, 2024. The rescue operation was fraught with danger, with fears of potential ambush by Hamas.
Now reunited with her family in Iraq, Fawzia faces the daunting task of rebuilding her life. Her lawyer, Zemfira Dlovani, notes that Fawzia can only recall about 15% of her ordeal due to the severe trauma she experienced. The fate of her children, now five and six years old, remains a painful topic that Fawzia is not yet ready to discuss.
Alan Duncan, the ex-British soldier turned documentarian who aided in Fawzia’s rescue, emphasized the long road to recovery ahead. “Half of her life a slave of ISIS and Hamas – how can you recover from that? But I know she can,” he said.
the-sun.com
