Success Story: Shireen Jardo Alhanto

Shireen Jardo Alhanto is Yazidi. She, along with 47 of her family members, were targeted and captured by ISIS in 2014. She was tortured and subjected to horrific abuse and eventually escaped to Nebraska where many Yazidi people have settled.

In 2017, CLIA helped Shireen file for asylum. Canceled interviews and COVID delays led to years of waiting. In June 2024, her application was finally approved. Shireen is the story of hope, of patience and of resilience.

Read more about her story in these news articles:

• KETV

• Lincoln Journal Star

• VOA

• Global Citizen

Yazidis are part of a religious minority in northern Iraq. Read more about the Yazidis:

• The Guardian

• BBC