Matthias Monroy

Five members of a delegation were stopped by the German Federal Police on their way to a commemorative event marking the 10th anniversary of the IS genocide against Yezidis. The justification raises questions.

Five self-described “young” members of a delegation on their way to Şengal in northern Iraq were stopped by the Federal Police at Munich Airport on Tuesday. This was first reported by the solidarity network Defend Kurdistan in a press release. The delegation of four German nationals and one person with an Iraqi passport had wanted to follow an invitation from the Democratic Council of the Yezidis. In the Şengal region, the group wanted to take part in commemorative events to mark the tenth anniversary of the genocide and femicide, one of the prevented travellers confirmed to “nd”. These crimes were committed by the “Islamic State” (IS) on 3 August 2014.

Despite the importance of their journey and an invitation to the commemorative event, the group was initially detained for seven hours shortly before their departure, they said. The Federal Police then imposed a 30-day exit ban on the activists. This was justified on the grounds of “foreign policy relations of the Federal Republic of Germany”.

In one of the exit bans obtained by “nd”, the Federal Police criticised the fact that the person concerned was “only carrying a rucksack as hand luggage”. It had contained an invitation to the autonomy council in Sinjar as well as a picture in memory of Thomas S. The German national was reportedly killed by Turkish troops on the border to the northern part of Kurdistan a year ago.

The Federal Police in Munich also consider it suspicious that the young travellers had “made several police encounters” before. Mention was made of “demonstrations, occupations and events that can be attributed to the left-wing spectrum and banned organisations such as the PKK”. It is therefore “to be assumed” that the stay in northern Iraq serves to “support the banned organisations in northern Iraq and to network further” with them.

The Federal Police are also concerned about the activists’ beliefs. “The internal security and considerable interests of the Federal Republic of Germany are jeopardised by the fact that you will be even more entrenched in your ideology after your return to Germany,” reads another part of the ban.

“Today’s decision by the Federal Police to prevent the five students from attending the Ezidi memorial events raises questions about the double standards of German foreign policy,” writes Defend Kurdistan. In this way, the Federal Republic of Germany is obstructing the commemoration of a recognised genocide and the support of the affected communities.

According to its own statements, Defend Kurdistan was founded in 2021 after a delegation trip to the southern part of Kurdistan and has existed as a network of Kurdistan solidarity movements since 2022.

The genocide against the Yezidis claimed the lives of up to 10,000 people, and over 7,000 women and girls were victims of sexual violence and slavery. More than 400,000 people were driven from their homes. The Yezidis refer to the 74th genocide in their history as the “Ferman”. To date, around 2,700 of those abducted are said to be in the hands of IS, most of them women and children.

Internationalists from Germany, Switzerland and Italy were also prevented from travelling to the memorial event in Şengal in northern Iraq. This was reported by the Kurdish news agency ANF News on Tuesday. The group was stopped at a checkpoint in Telafer in the north-west of the country and sent back to Mosul. Telafer is located in the border region with Syria.

Published in German in „nd“.

Image: The Federal Police at Munich Airport accused the group of “supporting banned organisations in northern Iraq and continuing to network” (symbolic photo from airport in Düsseldorf).