Prague, March 3 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry plans to send psychotherapists to the northern Iraqi areas vacated by Islamic State in order to help the local Yazidi community overcome the deep traumas caused to them by the jihad militants, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes Friday.
The Yazidis are a minority combining Islam with elements of other religions such as Hinduism, Persian Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and shamanism. While invading northern Iraq, the jihadists often executed Yazidi men and took the women away with them as sexual slaves, HN writes.
The Czech ambassador to Iraq, Jan Vycital, said the Czech authorities want to find and train psychotherapists in Iraq or possibly send some in from the Czech Republic.
In the latter case, however, the language barrier problem would have to be solved, Vycital told the paper.
Deputy Foreign Minister Vaclav Kolaja said the project may be financed by the ministry, which has a sum for similar purposes at its disposal. The ministry is seeking a person to oversee this Czech initiative in Iraq, Kolaja said.
The plan was proposed by Czech Chamber of Deputies deputy chairman Jan Bartosek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) after his meeting with the Yazidi community representatives in Prague last year.
“The biggest problem the Yazidis face are the traumas stemming from what they lived through. They need psychotherapeutic support…It is important to help life return to their home region,” Bartosek is quoted as saying.
The Yazidi minority in Iraq is about half-million strong. There are large Yazidi communities in Turkey and Syria as well. Members of other religions often persecute Yazidis for their different faith.
The Czech authorities are considering further small project to help the people returning to their home areas vacated by IS.
“The building of a joiner’s workshop may be one of such projects. We want to help the people return to normal life,” Bartosek said.
“It is necessary to lead water to the areas because everything has been devastated and it is impossible to exist there without water,” HN quotes Bartosek as saying.
rtj/t/pv
Prague, March 3 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry plans to send psychotherapists to the northern Iraqi areas vacated by Islamic State in order to help the local Yazidi community overcome the deep traumas caused to them by the jihad militants, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes Friday.
The Yazidis are a minority combining Islam with elements of other religions such as Hinduism, Persian Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and shamanism. While invading northern Iraq, the jihadists often executed Yazidi men and took the women away with them as sexual slaves, HN writes.
The Czech ambassador to Iraq, Jan Vycital, said the Czech authorities want to find and train psychotherapists in Iraq or possibly send some in from the Czech Republic.
In the latter case, however, the language barrier problem would have to be solved, Vycital told the paper.
Deputy Foreign Minister Vaclav Kolaja said the project may be financed by the ministry, which has a sum for similar purposes at its disposal. The ministry is seeking a person to oversee this Czech initiative in Iraq, Kolaja said.
The plan was proposed by Czech Chamber of Deputies deputy chairman Jan Bartosek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) after his meeting with the Yazidi community representatives in Prague last year.
“The biggest problem the Yazidis face are the traumas stemming from what they lived through. They need psychotherapeutic support…It is important to help life return to their home region,” Bartosek is quoted as saying.
The Yazidi minority in Iraq is about half-million strong. There are large Yazidi communities in Turkey and Syria as well. Members of other religions often persecute Yazidis for their different faith.
The Czech authorities are considering further small project to help the people returning to their home areas vacated by IS.
“The building of a joiner’s workshop may be one of such projects. We want to help the people return to normal life,” Bartosek said.
“It is necessary to lead water to the areas because everything has been devastated and it is impossible to exist there without water,” HN quotes Bartosek as saying.
rtj/t/pv
