Help Yezidis from extinction: Ravi Shankar

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Tuesday urged the governments of Europe, the US and India to save the thousands of Yazidis trapped in the Sinjar mountains in Iraq.

"This is the one of the worst genocides of the 21st century," Ravi Shankar said in a statement here.

"Yazidis are an ancient community on the verge of extinction. Several members of this community visited me in the US and pleaded for help to rescuing them from the ISIS onslaught.

"Christians, Yazidis and Kurdish Shias are languishing in camps in Erbil, Duhok and Khazir. Yazidis who were a community of 23 million have now been reduced to one million over the years," he said.

"Thousands are trapped in the mountains with no food or water. About 7,000 Yazidi girls, aged between 9 and 35 years, have been taken captive by the ISIS.

"We have rescued and rehabilitated a 15-year-old girl victim of gang rape and we are rescuing many other women who are trapped and are being sold by ISIS for as little as $10."

Urging Kurdish and Arabic people to help Yezidis, Ravi Shankar said: "I have planned to visit these relief camps soon."

Since the early stages of the ISIS insurgence in Iraq, over 1.5 million Iraqis have been internally displaced or forced to flee across the borders for their safety.