IS Attacks Could Lead To Genocide Of Religious Minorities in Middle-East

The Islamic State militants are attacking religious minorities like Christians, Yazidis and others in the Middle East, some of whom could face possible "genocide" said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to the UN, according to france24.

At a UN Security Council debate, Fabius added that an "action charter" could address the IS.

"We are witnessing a true genocide," Fabius said. "The Islamic State group in particular kills, enslaves or exiles people who don't think like them, especially Christians. It's not enough to raise awareness - we need to implement concrete solutions to protect these vulnerable populations."

The IS fundamentalists are bombing Iraq, Syria and Libya, with Sunni group hitting the Yazidis, including the sale or enslavement of Yazidi women and girls, along with the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, which may result in genocide. The IS group has beheaded 20 Coptic Christians in Libya last month.

"The danger is that minorities will disappear entirely," Fabius said. "The international community must not let that happen."

Of the 1.4 million Iraqi Christians in 1987, only 400,000 remain, Fabius said.

The foreign minister said that humanitarian aid could be sent to the minorities so that they can return, and the US-led forces fighting the IS group should protect the religious groups as a "primary goal".

Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, asked the Security Council to adopt a resolution formally declaring the violence targeting her community a genocide.

Over 420,000 of Iraq's 600,000 Yazidis have been driven from their houses and have been housed in their campls, said Dakhil. Religious minorities are driven to be the "front line" for the IS, which she called "the most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world".

"More than 2,000 Yazidis have been slaughtered in cold blood by ISIL for no reason except that we are Yazidis and we profess a religion that is different from ISIL," Dakhil said. "Our women are being raped. Our girls are being sold. Our children are taken to places, we don't know for what," she said.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein urged the 15-member council to refer Iraq and Syria to the international court. "The delicate mosaic is being shattered, and this Security Council must take action, unanimously and decisively, to end the conflicts and refer Iraq and Syria to the ICC," said Hussein.