A women’s peace choir performed at three Oxford locations recently.
The AMAR Yazidi women's choir performed to full audiences at the Weston Bodleian Library, St Michael's Summertown, and lastly at Sommerville College.
This was following on from events at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Cumberland Lodge.
The AMAR Yazidi women’s choir during their performances in Oxford (Image: AMAR Foundation)
Following their Oxford concerts they had a recording for Radio 3’s Music Planet, and they also gave interviews that were broadcast on Radio 4 and BBC World Service.
The choir comprise Yazidi women who live in Khanke refugee camp in Kurdistan, supported by the AMAR foundation.
It is made up of eight singers who have been living in this tented camp since 2014 following the ISIS attacks on the Yazidis on Mount Sinjar.
The Iraq government plans to close the camps in the autumn, leaving the group and 30,000 others provided with healthcare by AMAR potentially dislodged.
This puts them in a difficult situation, as returning to their home, Shingal, is too risky.
The AMAR Yazidi women’s choir performed at three locations in Oxford (Image: AMAR Foundation)
AMAR and others are lobbying to keep the camps opened for the dispersed 195,000 Yazidis across Kurdistan.
There is a plan to bring the choir back to UK next year.
The choir has also recorded a short album which will be available on digital channels in the autumn.
The AMAR Foundation has been providing music lessons and offering support to the choir for the past five years.
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