President Trump had an awkward exchange with Nobel Prize-winning activist Nadia Murad recently by asking her about her family’s whereabouts after she told them twice they were killed by the Islamic State.

During an Oval Office event to meet with survivors of religious persecution on Wednesday, Ambassador Sam Brownback introduced Ms. Murad, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her work in sexual-assault prevention after escaping the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

She stepped forward to tell the president her story of her ISIS capture.

“When ISIS attack us in 2014, they killed six of my brothers. They killed my mom. They took me to captivity with my 11 sister-in-law, with all my sister and my nieces,” she said, adding that 3,000 Yazidi women and children are still missing.

“Now there is no ISIS, but we cannot go back because Kurdish government and the Iraqi government, they are fighting each other who will control my area,” Ms. Murad said.

“But ISIS is gone,” Mr. Trump asked. “And now it’s Kurdish and …”

“And Iraqi. Iraqi government,” Ms. Murad replied. “My people cannot go back. We are not million of people, we are only half million people. And after 2014, about 95 years — 95,000 years, Yazidi, they immigrate to Germany through a very dangerous way. Not because we want to be a refugee, but we cannot find a safe place to live.”

“All this happened to me. They killed my mom, my six brothers,” Ms. Murad said, to which the president immediately responded. “Where are they now?”

“They killed them. They are in the mass graves in Sinjar,” Ms. Murad said.

Mr. Trump said, “I know the area very well, you’re talking about. It’s a tough … yeah. We’re going to look into it very strongly.”

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