Yazidi grandfather opens up about ISIS and the tragic loss of his three granddaughters

'My granddaughters simply disappeared into the sea'

A Yazidi grandfather shared the tragic story of his three granddaughters who died in the Mediterranean Sea during their attempt to flee the ISIS regime. The children aged 8, 12 and 15 drowned when the smuggler's boat overturned.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Atto, a Yazidi grandfather, lost his grandson when the boy was kidnapped by ISIS last year during an attack in Sinjar, and when his daughter-in-law attempted to escape to Europe with his three granddaughters via a smuggler's boat, he lost his granddaughters as well. 
Atto's three granddaughters were 8-year-old Dikhoas, 12-year-old Bessma and 15-year-old Shree. Unfortunately, they never reached Europe and died in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean. Following the news of his lost granddaughters, Atto started to warn other families not to go on smuggler boats when they flee the terrors of ISIS.

"About 50 days ago the mother and three daughters and three sons decided to emigrate to Europe, illegally," Atto shared in an interview with MailOnline. 
"We said to the smuggler, never take our family on the boat and in the water." Atto added they had heard the stories of overturned boats and people drowning.
"My son also told them not to use a boat to get to Europe and before his wife left she said she would not go on the water," Atto shared. Unfortunately, uppon arriving in Istanbul, the smuggler had already arranged a boat to carry them.
"They went to this port and there was about 21 people in this small plastic boat. It was for about ten people," Atto said before explaining the boat overturned.
After the boat capsized, Atto's daughter-in-law and her three sons were able to swim to the shore but her daughters were gone.
"Their mother said the water was so strong, and her children simply disappeared to the bottom of the ocean. I was hopeless. In the beginning I was silent, I could not speak about it. My daughter-in-law, Fareeda is so distraught."
Atto lamented, "My granddaughters simply disappeared into the sea."
Authorities arrived and tried to arrest survivors so Fareeda and her sons were forced to run. "We have not been able to recover the bodies," Atto described as he stared at a picture of his grandchildren.
Freeda and her sons traveled for a week before making it to Germany and are currently living with Waleed, Atto's son. Though their family was reunited in Germany, Atto described Freeda as a woman with "serious psychological problems, she blames herself. She is waking up at night crying. My son is also very bad."
As Atto continued to grieve, he admitted his granddaughters were full of potential they would never have the chance to fulfill.
"My youngest granddaughter loved to play with animals [and her] eldest sister was so clever, she could have been a doctor."
Atto has since warned other Yazidi not to travel to Europe by sea. "It is very dangerous, but people will not take my advice ... everyone wants to get to Europe."
Though losing his granddaughters obviously pained him, Atto explained he does not blame Freeda for their deaths or even for her decision to attempt to meet Waleed. "She is not to blame. The smuggler lied," Atto said, raising his voice.
"The reason they emigrated was because of ISIS," he said with vindication. "Before ISIS came to Sinjar everything was fine, but now everybody sells his car, his home to go to Europe."
Jihadis attacked Sinjar last August and forced women to become sex slaves and men to convert to Islam or be killed.

Twenty-year-old Khaleed, Atto's grandson, was kidnapped during the attack and is now belived to be dead. "No-one knows where he is, but I think he might have been killed ... In some ways what happened to my granddaughters is easier, but not knowing what happened to my grandson who was captured by ISIS is harder."
Over 550,000 migrants have reached Europe but 3,000 have been reported dead or missing.

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