Sinjar, a Kurdish border area that has seen more prosperous times as a trading and farming hub famed for its figs, olives and Syrian-influenced cuisine, is suddenly on the world map as a genocide unfolds before our eyes.

As a Kurd whose family comes from Sinjar, I find it wrenching to see the suffering of our people as yet another genocide is committed against us. We had thought the dark days were behind us as we rebuilt the 4,000 villages, and the physical and social infrastructure, that were destroyed by Saddam Hussein.

Kurdistan has a tradition of peaceful coexistence, with Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs all living side by side. The first school my Muslim mother attended in Sinjar was run by Christian nuns. Religious festivals, she told me, were always celebrated by neighbours of different faiths, too.