Trauma recovery for Yazidis after the 2014 ISIS genocide: international approaches and policy recommendations

This report complements the RESPOND research (www.respondmigration.com) on migration and immigrant integration by bringing the focus on a specific case, the trauma recovery of Yazidis with an explicit emphasis on their psychosocial needs. To this respect, it draws data and findings from international guidelines in approaching trauma recovery from a holistic perspective and includes also the importance of cultural identity as a contextual factor for understanding trauma recovery dynamics in the context of forced displacement and settlement in a new country. In addition to surveying the existing literature around psychosocial needs of refugees and Yazidis in particular, this report benefits from insights gained during interviews with representatives of Yazidi-run non-profit organisations involved in psychosocial support and advocacy programmes. Many of the lessons learned from the research in this report are also applicable to other refugee populations as they point to general structural shortcomings of national and international support systems, as well as to efforts targeted at addressing these shortcomings.