August 3, 2014 was the day that the lives of Yazidi man Shamo Silo and his family changed forever.
It was a day that began just as any other. In the early hours of the morning, Mr Silo farewelled his wife and drove out of the Yazidi village of Kocho, in northern Iraq, and headed for work.
After crossing the Iraqi border into the Kurdistan Region, a route he took daily, he noticed something unusual.
He saw residents of the nearby village of Zumar fleeing westward towards the Syrian border.
Seeing the exodus, he quickly phoned his wife.
“When I saw the border being open I thought something is wrong,” he told SBS Kurdish.
“I phoned my wife and she told me everything is normal here and that they are safe. I told her to be vigilant and to monitor the situation and if necessary to just get into the car and leave. I eventually left work and took the Rabia route going through a village called Qahira. All of our forces were withdrawing and heading towards Kurdistan.”
Along his route homeward, armed Arabs who lived in the region had closed off the roads leading to Mr Silo’s village.
“I called my wife and told her that I can’t get to them anymore and that the roads are closed. I told her to do whatever is beneficial for yourselves.”
His wife and their children Jiyan, Viyan, Iman and Hessen, were evacuated by security forces to Sinjar, but when they arrived there, Islamic State militants were already waiting for them and quickly confiscated their vehicles and left them helpless.
The town of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Source: Getty
IS fighters had taken control of the Sinjar region on August 3 and many of the residents of the village of Kocho, which had a population of about 1,200, became trapped, unable to flee and in constant fear of being killed or abducted. The day of invasion is known as "the black day" by Yazidis.
The family remained in Sinjar for two days with Arab friends, before IS militants returned to the town and informed the population that they weren’t there for the Yazidis minority, Muslims or Christians, but rather to topple the country’s government.
“An Arab man then returned my family to Kocho, and they stayed there until 15 August 2014.”
But on the morning of August 15, the nightmare that had haunted the residents of Kocho for the previous 12 days finally transpired when IS fighters began a systematic massacre of the town’s men and boys, before abducting all of the women and children.
The family house in Kocho, Iraq. Source: Supplied
The entire male population of Kocho, up to 400 men, were rounded up and executed, and up to 1,000 women and children were abducted, according to witness reports to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Up to 200 Yazidi men were killed in the nearby village of Tal Afar for refusing to convert to Islam.
“From the middle of August to the middle of September I did not have any contact with my family.”
A journalist watches as smoke rises over Sinjar, northern Iraq from oil fires set by Islamic State militants. Source: AP
On September 15, the family was taken to Kocho’s local school, where IS members began separating families, before transporting them eastward towards Tal Afar.
“Viyan, Jiyan, Iman and Hessen were initially with their mother but our eldest son Raed and his grandfather were separated from the rest of the family in the beginning.
“My wife told me that she, their four children and their daughter-in-law are all together in Tal Afar under IS control."
“I was getting news about my family from some Arabs and the security forces as well as Kurds and other sources.”
Mr Silo’s family was forced to stay with IS fighters until April 2015, before they were separated.
Mr Silo's son Hessen has been missing since 2014. Source: Supplied
His two younger daughters, Viyan, 9, and Iman, 5, were taken to Syria then returned to Iraq, and taken to Mosul and Tal Afar.
During this time, Mr Silo frantically searched for his family members by contacting local and regional authorities for any information.
Eventually, with the assistance of Shia members of Iraq’s National Security Force and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, the girls were reunited with their father in 2017.
Iman and Viyan in 2014. Source: Supplied
“When Iraqi Security Forces took control of Tal Afar, Viyan came with other civilians and surrendered to the Peshmerga; Ashty Kocher from the Peshmerga forces telephoned me and told me that they have my daughter. I went and collected my daughter.”
Mr Silo’s youngest daughter was taken to Turkey, where she lived with an IS family from Tal Afar.
“Iraq’s Security forces had located my daughter and her photographs were distributed everywhere and that her name is Iman. I contacted them and told them that she’s my daughter. They brought her to me within 24 hours.”
He still has no information about the whereabouts of the rest of his family members.
Iman in 2014 Source: Supplied
Asylum in Australia
On September 24, 2019, Mr Silo and his two daughters received asylum in Australia and weeks later, they arrived in the NSW town of Armidale, which already had an established community of Yazidi refugees. In October, the family resettled in Wagga Wagga.
But life would never be the same, especially for the young girls who remain too traumatised to speak of their experiences.
“Everyone knows IS does not treat anyone nicely, they used every kind of torture,” the now 14-year-old Viyan said.
“After what I have been through my mental situation is very bad.”
Iman, now nine years old, recalled the days when she would just cry, begging for her mother.
The family after arriving in Australia in 2019. Source: Supplied
“They were very nasty, if I cried they would beat me, they would get angry at me and tell me you have to become a Muslim. They took my mother away from me at night,” she said.
Mr Silo is also struggling. He is desperate to find the rest of his family.
“I don’t know anything about them, but my daughter-in-law was found in 2016 and she has been resettled in Germany.
“I am not coping very well, my situation is very bad as you know bringing up two young girls without their mother is very difficult, my entire family is gone, but life must go on for the sake of my daughters.”
Mr Silo said he was extremely grateful to Australia for providing asylum to his family, but had one request to assist him with his situation - better access to counselling services for refugees, especially for those who were held captive by IS.
“I would like to thank the Australian government and the community in Wagga Wagga, they are doing a lot for us.
“We have been here for two months and yesterday was the first time Viyan had a 45-minute session of counselling. They tell me Iman will get counselling soon on a weekly basis.”
The Australian government provides a range of settlement services aimed at assisting humanitarian entrants through the
Services included assistance in securing employment, housing and mental health and wellbeing services.
Readers seeking support with mental health can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. More information is available at
