Homeland Conditions: “Speaking Kurdish Was Equal to a Crime”

This chapter offers a historical and contemporary insight into the rationale for the departure of Kurdish-Yezidi refugees from their traditional homeland. It puts forward arguments that statelessness of the Kurds and their consequent exposure to the colonial politics of the ruling states of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria are the primary factors driving Kurdish-Yezidi refugees to abandon their traditional homeland and seek asylum abroad. In this context, Kurdish-Yezidi refugees recount their ethnic and religious persecution, social discrimination, and forced assimilation at the hands of governing regimes that denied Kurdish-Yezidi cultural identities. Although the refugee narratives pertain to the individual experience, they embody the collective experiences of the Kurdish-Yezidi population, which have endured repression, persecution, and displacement due to their distinct ethnic and religious characteristics.