Ten years after ISIS massacres, Iraqi minority fears a replay of 2014 genocide

“This rise in hate speech, sparked by a broader reaction to remarks from a Yazidi leader, highlights the pressing need to address and prevent such divisive rhetoric and protect vulnerable communities,” Gharizi added.

In the words of Yazidi activist and human rights champion Samia Shankali, the mounting threats constitute a “psychological war.” Rana Hassan Qasem, the deputy director of the Sinjar municipality, described a climate of pervasive fear.

“The mood and psychological state are unstable and anxious because we do not know when we might be attacked by unknown people,” Qasem said.

Yazidi women and girls, many of whom were abducted and were forced to become sex slaves for ISIS members during the 2014 bloodshed, remain particularly vulnerable, according to Nahida Darwish, the chairwoman of the Sinjar Women’s Platform for Women Empowerment.

Darwish said many Yazidi women suffer from psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression — a consequence of horrific treatment during ISIS’s so-called caliphate.

The case of Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who was captured by ISIS in 2014 but escaped after three months, during which she was raped by a dozen men, drew international attention at the time. Murad has since founded Nadia’s Initiative, a nonprofit mission that advocates for the Yazidi community.

“We urge the Iraqi authorities and the Kurdistan Regional Government to take decisive action to counter this dangerous rhetoric and implement concrete measures to protect religious minorities in Iraq, including the Yazidis,” Nadia’s Initiative said in an email to NBC News.

“As a vital component of society in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Yazidis deserve to live in their homeland free from fear and intimidation,” the advocacy group added.

Ten years after the ISIS massacres forced thousands of Yazidis to run for their lives or take shelter in camps, the renewed wave of violent antagonism has Yazidis pondering if it might be time to flee again.

“I never thought of leaving Iraq, but after the recent events and the hate speech, violence and incitement against us, I reached the conviction that we are in danger and live in an unsafe environment and our lives are at risk at any moment,” said Tahseen Shaikh Kalo, 30.

If he and his family have the opportunity to leave Iraq, they will seek refuge in America or France, he said.

Khalid Razak reported from Baghdad and Daniel Arkin from New York.