On August 3, 2014, Islamic extremists murdered and kidnapped thousands of Ezidis in the Iraqi city of Sinjar (Shingal). The atrocities were the 74th such genocide, by this people's reckoning.

More than 4000 Ezidi refugees have come to Australia since 2016 as part of a government humanitarian resettlement program.

Two hundred arrived in Armidale in 2018, and there are now 650 living here with Sanctuary volunteers helping them overcome the loss and trauma they have suffered.

Many still have relatives in captivity; others have lost parents and children.

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Salam Qaro works with the Families in Cultural Transition (FICT) program for the Armidale branch of NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).

Addressing those gathered for the anniversary ceremony, Mr Qaro said the Ezidi community appreciated the ongoing support given to them by the Australian government and people.

"Today, on such a painful day, we would like to express our gratitude to the great Armidale people and volunteers for their friendship and support," Mr Qaro said.

"We would also like to acknowledge the role of the federal and state governments for providing different programs such as health, education, and financial support to the Ezidis."

Mr Qaro and his colleagues said they urged the Australian government to allocate more places for Ezidis under the humanitarian programs and visas.

"We also request the Australian government urges coalition forces to increase resources to find missing and kidnapped Ezidis," Mr Qaro said.

Throughout history, different radical Islamic groups have attempted 74 times to wipe out the Ezidi people, and religion Mr Qaro said. The last and ongoing attempt was by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"Today marks the seventh anniversary of the 74 Ezidi Genocide that occurred in 2014 by ISIS," said Mr Qaro.

"On that day, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria attacked Shingal and most of the area where the Ezidi live.

"As a result, 7000 Ezidi men, women and children and the elderly were killed or abducted and enslaved. More than 200,000 Ezidis fled Shingal to nearby Shingal Mountain. They were trapped on Mount Shingal, surrounded by ISIS, and faced starvation and dehydration for more than a week."

Mr Qaro said most of the sick or elderly Ezidis who could not make the trek were executed by ISIS, and thousands of young women and girls were subjected to rape and sold in slavery markets in public in Iraq and Syria.

"During the Ramadhan and on June 2, 2016, ISIS publicly executed 19 Ezidi women by burning them alive in iron cages in the Iraqi city Mosul because they refused to have sex with ISIS members," he said.

"The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Also transferred thousands of the abducted Ezidis to Syria and other countries. Men were killed, and children were separated from their families and sent to radical training centers."

Mr Qaro said to date, ISIS has destroyed more than 68 holy places or religious shrines.

"More than 86 mass graves of Ezidis have been discovered so far in different areas within Nineveh Mosul and Syria and other areas," he said.

"On March 2019, a mass grave including the decapitated heads of 50 Ezidi women was unearthed by international forces in the eastern Syrian town of Baghuz.

"Now, hundreds of the Ezidi families live in different Australian cities where they find themselves safe and live in a peaceful country away from ISIS and terrorism.

"We are incredibly proud to be a part of this great country and are looking forward to serving the country forever. Here in Australia, we feel like we are born again as there is freedom, real democracy, and decent life."

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Mr Qaro said while the Australian Ezidi community looked forward to a better future where there is equality, their minds are still with their families and relatives who live in camps in different countries across the Middle East.

"Today, more than 75 percent of the Ezidi people are displaced and living in camps in Iraq, Syria, Greece, and Turkey, and tens of thousands have immigrated to Europe and other western countries out of fear of ISIS brutality," he said.

"The Ezidi community are still living in terrible conditions, and they are still in danger. After seven years of the genocide, the fate of many Ezidis remains unknown in ISIS prisons and Syrian camps, and other areas.

"Thousands of the Ezidi children have become orphans due to the current genocide, and we still have more than 3000 men, women, and children, missing with no news for seven years."

The Ezidi, who claims to be one of the world's oldest religions, have been persecuted for centuries and called devil-worshippers and infidels by Islamic extremists.

Today, only around 800,000 of these Kurdish-speaking people survive in the Middle East.

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