NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

The Forgotten Millions: Mother and baby survive Isis siege

NZ Herald
20 Mar, 2015 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nasreen and her daughter Rohit survived the Isis siege of Yazidis on Mt Sinjar. Photo / Jo Curri

Nasreen and her daughter Rohit survived the Isis siege of Yazidis on Mt Sinjar. Photo / Jo Curri

Nareen and her daughter almost died after jihadists trapped Yazidi refugees.

On the third floor of an unfinished concrete-block house in Iraqi-Kurdistan, I meet Nasreen.

She rents a small room in the open foundations of a construction site in Duhok.

She thought she would be here "just a few weeks ... until the fighting stopped in Iraq", but that was four months ago.

I push back the heavy wool blanket that hangs across the door and Nasreen is standing in the middle of the room, smiling.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On her hip is a bonny, five-month old baby.

"This is Rohit," she says, grinning.

"She is my first baby."

Nasreen is a Yazidi, a religious minority from Sinjar in the north-west of Iraq.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She came to Kurdistan to escape Isis who arrived in her village one hot, still night in August.

"I heard cars and then gunfire. And then an RPG hit my neighbour's house and there was a huge explosion."

Nasreen grabbed her Iraqi ID card and a blanket for Rohit and ran from the house.

"I knew it was Isis. I knew I had to run to save our lives. Everybody did. We ran towards the mountain."

Discover more

World

People, not politics, matter

15 Mar 04:00 PM
New Zealand

Artwork funds to help Syrian kids

16 Mar 04:00 PM
World

No dignity in childbirth

17 Mar 04:00 PM
World

Establishing a new normal

18 Mar 04:00 PM

Rohit was not quite three weeks old.

Nasreen and her husband were among the thousands of Yazidi who trekked for four days in the peak of summer, to reach the top of Mount Sinjar. They had no food. No water. Nothing.

It was the start of what would later become known as the Siege of Sinjar when Isis encircled thousands of Yazidi on the mountain, trapping them. There was no way down, alive.

Nasreen says the most vulnerable died in the first few days. Many were dehydrated or exhausted from the journey.

It wasn't until the third day when Nasreen's breast milk dried up, that she thought Rohit would die too.

"She was starving and dehydrated. She cried for the first two days and then she stopped crying and I couldn't wake her. That's when I began to panic because I knew she was going to die."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Her husband ventured down the mountain, out of striking distance of Isis, and found a shepherd with some milking ewes.

He milked one into an old water bottle and then took it back to Rohit. They prised her mouth open and poured in droplets of milk.

By this stage, Rohit was barely conscious.

Nasreen says she dropped a little bit of milk in her mouth every few hours and prayed.

"That was all I could do. I just prayed and prayed for my baby."

The next day her neighbour's baby died on the mountain and Nasreen says she flew into a rage, sure that Rohit would be next.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I remember screaming at my husband. I told him 'I will not leave her. If she dies on this mountain I will stay with her body. I will never leave her. They will have to kill me too'."

It was several days into the siege and President Barack Obama, fearing a genocide, authorised the use of force against Isis at the base of the mountain. The airstrikes cleared a corridor down the mountain to let thousands of Yazidi escape but many succumbed to dehydration along the way.

Nasreen says she saw elderly people lying dead under trees and a dead baby wrapped in a blanket was left lying on the side of the road.

"It wasn't even a month old and it was lying there covered in dust. I looked away and I kept walking, but I cried and cried for that baby that day and I cried for its mother too."

Teams of doctors were waiting at the Syrian border and Rohit was given oxygen and put on a drip.

She was severely dehydrated and malnourished, and covered in a bright red rash.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I can't believe we survived. I thank God every day."

That was four months ago now and as I look at Rohit - a happy, bouncy five-month-old - it is impossible to grasp what she has endured in her short life.

"She is a fighter," says Nasreen, smiling again.

"You all are," I say. "Every single one of you."

• Rachel Smalley is a Newstalk ZB host.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

US stealth bombers fly over Pacific as tension with Iran grows

21 Jun 06:49 PM
World

'Advance terror attacks': Israeli navy strikes Hezbollah site

21 Jun 06:55 AM
World

Missing HMS Endeavour’s disputed resting place confirmed

21 Jun 06:52 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

US stealth bombers fly over Pacific as tension with Iran grows

US stealth bombers fly over Pacific as tension with Iran grows

21 Jun 06:49 PM

B-2 bombers and refuelling jets flew off the California coast overnight.

'Advance terror attacks': Israeli navy strikes Hezbollah site

'Advance terror attacks': Israeli navy strikes Hezbollah site

21 Jun 06:55 AM
Missing HMS Endeavour’s disputed resting place confirmed

Missing HMS Endeavour’s disputed resting place confirmed

21 Jun 06:52 AM
Secrets of Okunoshima: Poison gas island's hidden WWII history

Secrets of Okunoshima: Poison gas island's hidden WWII history

21 Jun 02:20 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP