Climate-Scarred Villages in Sinjar: From IS Devastation to a Growing Water Crisis

In the Sinjar district of northern Iraq, villages such as Faka, Tal Jado’o and Al-Sajea remain largely abandoned a decade after Islamic State (IS) seized the area. Before the 2014 IS offensive, roughly 150 families lived in Faka; today only about 20 families have returned. In Tal Jado’o, the pre-war population of more than 200 has fallen to barely 50, and Al-Sajea’s 37 families have all left, leaving only ruined houses overrun by spiny wild milk thistle. The physical scars of war are now compounded by a climate-driven scarcity of water and arable land, making any return increasingly untenable.

The Guardian

IS’s August 2014 campaign triggered a UN-recognized genocide against the Yazidi minority, killing thousands and abducting over 6,000 women and children. The ensuing displacement created a diaspora that has largely settled elsewhere, discouraged by the lack of reconstruction, jobs and basic services. The International Organization for Migration has recorded more than 186,000 people displaced by climate-related factors across Iraq as of September 2025.

The Guardian

Iraqi authorities project that by 2050 the country’s average annual temperature will rise by 2.5 °C, adding 24 extra days each year that exceed extreme-heat thresholds. Summer temperatures in Sinjar have approached 50 °C, and rainfall has become erratic. Groundwater levels are falling: where water was once reachable at about 10 metres depth, drilling now must reach roughly 25 metres, raising extraction costs each year. The UN’s special representative for Iraq warns that, if current trends continue, Iraq will meet only 15 % of its water needs by 2035.

The Guardian

The UN special representative for Iraq has highlighted the looming water shortfall, while the International Organization for Migration emphasizes the scale of climate-induced displacement. Both agencies stress that without substantial investment in reconstruction, irrigation and renewable energy, the remaining villages face a “tipping point” beyond which repopulation may become impossible.

The Guardian

• “People ask why families don’t come back. The answer is simple. Where would they live? How would they earn a living?” — Aqil Ridha

The Guardian

• “Years ago, you could reach water at around 10 metres,” — Bahjat Othman Hasan

The Guardian

• “Almost all my friends want to leave. Sometimes I want to leave, too. But if I go, who will help my parents?” — Smain

The Guardian

These testimonies illustrate the intertwined challenges of rebuilding homes, restoring livelihoods and securing water in a region still haunted by the legacy of conflict and now confronting an accelerating climate crisis.

The Guardian