Winnipeg's Yazidis ask Canadians to 'open their hearts'

Winnipeg's small Yazidi community is appealing for help.

They held a rally at Assiniboine Park to raise awareness about what's happening to their families in northern Iraq.

• Iraq conflict: U.S. hits more ISIS targets as Yazidi 'mass graves' reported

Nafiya Naso said some 200,000 Yazidishave fled Islamic militants.

The U.S. military has been carrying out airstrikes and airdropping food and water.But Naso said those supplies aren'tgetting through.

"From what we know nobody we know has received any help," she said Saturday. "They're still stuck on the mountains and we're just putting awareness out there for people to please open their eyes and open their hearts and help our community."

Naso said the Yazidi community is very small, even in Iraq.

She said of the approximately 200 Yazidis who live in Winnipeg, every single one has family back home in Iraq.