The militiamen punish those who flee with death, and bind women leaving them out in the cold. The families fleeing at night and are forced to sedate their children or tape their mouths to stop their cries and spare them the horrors of war.
Mosul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - If discovered, Iraqis fleeing Mosul run the risk of being punished by Isis militants. For this reason, parents are forced to sedate their children or tape their mouths during the flight.
Hala Jaber of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said men caught trying to leave would be shot while women were sometimes tied up and left outside in the cold as a warning. Militants are also using civilians as human shields.
“Families often leave at night and in the early hours of the morning and have to walk with their children. The kids get tired and if they cry it’s very difficult. Families are sometimes putting duct tape on their children’s mouths or even giving them Valium or tranquilisers just to keep them quiet so that they are not found out by ISIS (Islamic State) and captured or shot.”
According to the IOM this happens in different areas controlled by ISIS in Iraq.
The Iraqi forces launched a military campaign to recover the area west of Mosul a month ago, after capturing the east area in January. According to humanitarian organizations, the situation is desperate for more than 600 thousand people stuck with lack of food, water, fuel and medicines. UNHCR says that by Thursday, 157 thousand people had reached the collection point for the fugitives.
Amy Christian, spokesman for Oxfam in Iraq, states that civilians who come in search of safety are "traumatized, starved, dehydrated and utterly exhausted," and that some parents give sedatives to children to protect them from the terror of their flight.
"My families gave medicines to young children," says Noor Muhammad, a teenager who fled along with 27 other people. "The parents give sleeping pills to their children so they won’t be upset by the battles; and also to avoid detection as they flee".
Jaber reports that teams of specialists are working on the psychological support of these children. " “The things the children have seen and been through are beyond what any human being should see. They’ve witnessed hands being cut off, beheadings and killings. A lot of them are in shock.” But Jaber said the children were remarkably resilient.
“They were drawing tanks with ISIS flags (when they arrived). Now they’re drawing flowers and happy faces”.