After three months as a slave with the Islamic State Yazidi Nadia Murad managed to escape. Now she pleads for the world to act. The University auditorium was packed when she visited Lund last Friday.
All over town are people huddling in the sunshine, celebrating spring. Warmth has made its first appearance, and all anxiety among the students over CSN and exams seems to have vanished.
But in the University auditorium the atmosphere is darker. Nadia Murad was captured by the terror group the Islamic State and lived as a slave in Iraq for three months.
“Not primarily as a victim”
Before ISIS came to Nadia Murad’s hometown she wanted to study history and learn about when mankind lived in peace. When she was captured her dreams were crushed, and now she travels around the world to plead for help.
“I stand here not primarily as a victim. Not to make you hear the voices of the millions of victims. Perhaps, I would have wanted to sit down with you, among my friends and family. But I’m here to tell you the story of my people and my country”, Nadia Murad begins.
Nadia Murad is a Yazidi, one of the ethnic groups ISIS doesn’t consider worthy people. She saw her family get obliterated by ISIS, and was one of thousands of women who were taken as slaves by IS’ followers.
Finally, she managed to escape and with the help of a Muslim family she could get to the border and flee to Europe.
ISIS – a global threat
But according to Nadia Murad, safety here is an illusion. She emphasizes that ISIS is a global threat.
“Not only the Yazidi are selected. It’s anyone who refuses to submit to ISIS and their interpretation of the sharia laws. They want to change the world for future generations”.
She continues:
“It doesn’t concern just the Middle East, but also Europe and the rest of the world. Terrorism has no limits”.
Nadia Murad emphasizes that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. They claim that they follow Muslim faith, but in fact it’s about power. They want to rule the world. Those who oppose must be killed.
“There are no evil regions, nor evil people. The world is home for all of us, and ISIS wants to take that away. We must stop the bloodbath together”, Nadia Murad says.
“I can’t think about my future”
With a steady voice she asks us – and the rest of the world – not to close our eyes to the terrible disaster she has managed to escape. She also asks us to document what is happening, she asks the University to admit students who have managed to escape the affected areas and she asks us to bring back the human dignity ISIS has stolen from the world.
Her gaze is steady as she looks out over the packed auditorium, until someone in the audience asks her about her future.
“I can’t think about my future. Daesh (ISIS, -ed.) has trampled on it. They have stolen it from me. My faith is tied to the thousands of women who are their slaves and to the millions of people who have been forced to flee for their lives”.
“I have traveled around the world and shared my message for a long time now. Months have passed, but nothing has happened. Where is the humanity?”
At the last question she has to excuse herself as tears well up. She repeats the question, and the audience is quiet as if powerless.
The speech is interrupted and the auditorium gets up in standing ovations. But after Nadia Murad’s testimony it’s clear that this isn’t enough. The rest of the world must act.
Article: Jakob Ehde
Translation: Elise Petersson
