August 3rd is a sorrowful day for Yazidis, especially for the survivors. IS militants swept through the region of Sinjar causing widespread destruction, including abductions, murder and rape. The atrocities perpetrated by IS are now acknowledged by the international community yet thousands still remain missing.

Australia's Yazidi community has marked the fifth anniversary of so-called Islamic State's genocidal killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidis in the Sinjar region in northwestern Iraq.

Communities in Toowoomba, Wagga Wagga, Armidale and Coffs Harbour gathered to remember their loved ones who were either killed or are missing.

Toowoomba. Source: SBS Kurdish

Twenty-year-old Nihad Barakat came to Australia just over a year ago and now lives in Toowoomba in Queensland.   She hopes to be a teacher but is desperately missing her mother, who remains in northern Iraq.

“When IS came we were very sad, because IS killed the children, men and women,” she told SBS News.

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“I want my family to come to Australia and to live together and to be safe in Australia … I want the Australian government to help us because if they don’t help us, we can’t do anything,” she said.

SBS Kurdish also spoke to Salim Hussein in Toowoomba, Khalaf Bari in Armidale, siblings Soryas and Rivas in Wagga Wagga, Sami Alhababy in Coffs Harbour and Wards Hussein (Coffs Harbour) who is studying at the University of Newcastle.

Coffs Harbour. Source: SBS Kurdish

They all expressed their feelings towards Australia and it’s generosity by accepting Yazidis but they say Australia needs to bring more Yazidis and mostly to reunite families who are already here in Australia.

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Australia's Yazidi community commemorates Sinjar genocide

SBS Kurdish

04/08/201912:33

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Armidale. Source: SBS Kurdish

Fate of nearly 3,000 Yazidis unknown

The fate of 2,930 Yazidis remains unknown.

Already 80 mass graves have been identified and 68 Yazidi religious temples have been destroyed according to author and journalist Khaled Taalo who is a refugee in Sharia refugee camp in Kurdistan Region.

Yazidis in a refugee camp in Dohuk mark 5th anniversary of IS advance on Sinjar. Source: Supplied

“Five years on, the vast majority of Yazidis remain displaced in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Greece," he told SBS Kurdish.   

"An estimated 360,000 Yazidis are displaced and more than 100,000 have been resettled abroad.  80 percent of Yazidis are refugees or displaced. There are 13 refugee camps in Kurdistan Region, 1,000 families, in other words nearly 20,000 individuals living in Sharia refugee camp.”

Journalist and author Khaled Taalo in Sharia refugee camp in Kurdistan Region. Source: Supplied

At present, there are still over 3,000 Yazidis missing and no one knows whether they are dead or alive.

“More than 3,000 Yazidis are still missing, some still captured by IS and some are in Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria," he said.

"They need to be freed, I urge the international community to pay special attention to the Yazidis because they’ve suffered enormously”.