DUTCH groups have hit out at “callous” plans to send Yazidi refugees back to camps in Iraq from where they have fled genocide and demand that the Netherlands grant them asylum. 

The decision by the Dutch Immigration Department (IND) was branded “absurd” by Murad Ismail of the Yazda organisation, which supports the Yazidi diaspora in the Netherlands.

“If you send back the victims of genocide, you have to ask yourself what your own moral position is,” he said.

The Yazidi people are a distinct ethnic group largely concentrated in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq.

They suffered a horrific massacre in 2014 at the hands of the Isis death cult as it swept through large parts of Iraq. 

At least 5,000 men and boys were slaughtered while thousands of women were sold into sexual slavery. At least 3,000 are still missing.

The attacks are officially recognised as a genocide by the United Nations.

Yazidis say it is the 73rd attempted genocide against them. 

The IND claims that because there is enough food and shelter in the IDP camps in Iraq, the Netherlands is justified in refusing Yazidi asylum-seekers.

However Mr Ismail warned that the camps are not suitable, with a lack of support and Sinjar being contested between the Kurdish regional authorities and Baghdad’s central government.

“There is no reconstruction, no infrastructure, no administration and no security. The basic needs to build a new life there are not fulfilled,” he explained.

The Free Yazidi Foundation of the Netherlands branded the government “callous” and called for it to reverse its decision.

“Yazidis did not flee because of a lack of food and shelter or the difficulty of daily life in Iraq. They fled because they were at risk of eradication based on their unique religion,” it said.