Mission to Iraq (May 2015)  Ethnic and religious groups particularly vulnerable to displacement. Ethnic and religious minorities, including Assyrians, Christians, Kaka’i, Shabak, Turkmen and Yazidis, have been targeted by ISIL with thousands killed, injured, abducted or forced to flee. Reports documented summary executions, forced conversion, rape, sexual enslavement, the destruction of places of worship, the abduction of children, the looting of property and other human rights violations prohibited under international law repeatedly committed by ISIL.  Violence appeared to be part of a systematic strategy by ISIL to permanently remove some communities from areas where they have lived for centuries. Christian communities, for example, were told to leave Mosul or face execution. The Shabak people numbering 200,000 to 500,000, located for centuries in the Ninewa plain area, are viewed as heretics by Islamist militias who have targeted them as a result. The Shabak population in Mosul was forced to flee harassment and killings, many taking refuge in Karbala and the Kurdistan region. ISIL militants regarded Yazidis as infidels and they have been regularly targeted.  The extent of the violence targeted against such ethnic and religious groups and poor prospects for their safe return to their homes have resulted in many looking for refuge outside the country. For many, internal displacement has become a staging post for fleeing Iraq.  A systematic campaign by ISIL to eradicate the culture, history and identity of ethnic and religious communities in the areas under its control has resulted in buildings, monuments and other sites of immense religious, cultural and historical importance being destroyed — including churches, mosques and tombs, as well as irreplaceable ancient manuscripts and texts belonging to Iraqi Assyrians, Shabak, Turkmen, Yazidis and other minorities.