SONIA KHALIL BASHAR
Sonia was 4 years old when ISIS kidnapped her, along with her entire Yazidi family, from the village of Wardya in Sinjar back in 2014. They were all taken to a prison in Mosul, where her siblings were separated a few weeks later from the rest of the family and disappeared.
Sonia stayed with her parents for another 9 months, before she too was taken away and was sent to an Islamic pre-school along with other Yazidi children aged 3 to 7 where they were forced to study Islam.
Months later, she was sold to a family in Mosul and remained with them for 5 years. During her captivity, she was treated as a slave and was forced into doing housework and memorizing the Quran. When ISIS was defeated in Mosul and the Iraqi army took over the area, the family that was detaining her escaped to the nearby desert and disappeared.
Sonia’s mother was rescued a few years earlier and immigrated to Canada. Upon learning of TNF, she reached out to us to help her find her daughter.
Our teams launched a search mission for Sonia. After months of investigation, we found a lead through Christian families from Qaraqosh who informed them about an orphanage in Mosul where many young Yazidi girls were kept.
Our operatives went immediately to the orphanage and began looking for Sonia among the children. Once they found her, TNF provided DNA test kits to confirm her identity. When the results confirmed her identity, the team began legal procedures for her release.
After years in captivity where she was inhumanely treated, Sonia was finally going back home. She was reunited with her family shortly afterwards and is currently awaiting to be relocated overseas.