Washington - D.C., USA (us.gov.krd) - KRG Representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman participated in a virtual panel discussion organized by the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which focused on a film that highlights the impact of mines and unexploded bombs in Sinjar.

Into The Fire is a documentary film by Orlando von Einsiedel, the Oscar-winning director of The White Helmets. It tells the story of Hana Khider, a Yazidi woman who is a MAG team leader in Sinjar, working to rid her community of the deadly improvised landmines planted by ISIS. 

Representative Abdul Rahman discussed the plight of the Yazidi community, which has suffered genocide at the hands of ISIS, and the KRG's efforts to bring ISIS terrorists to justice through an international tribunal. She also noted the need for security and reconstruction of the Sinjar region and mine-clearance, before the hundreds of thousands of displaced Yazidis can return home. She praised the work of MAG over the past three decades in Kurdistan and Iraq in clearing mines and empowering women and communities through life-saving work.

Decades of internal and external conflict have left Iraq as the most heavily contaminated country in the world in terms of mines and unexploded bombs, making it difficult for many communities, such as the Yazidis, to return to their cities and villages once the conflict has ended. 

Keme Nzeremm, a news anchor from the United Kingdom's Channel 4 News, moderated the panel. The panelists included Abid Shamdin, Executive Director of Nadia's Initiative, British actor Rosamund Pike (a longtime advocate of MAG), Portia Stratton, MAG Country Director for Iraq, and Mr von Einsiedel. Mr. Shamdin spoke about the ongoing problems facing the Yazidi community, such as displacement and increasing rates of suicide, and noted the importance of MAG's work. 

A trailer for Into The Fire can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1ZOV0swBU0