Religious minorities in northern Iraq are seeking a safe haven wherever they can find it.

Pursued by Islamic State miltants bent on their extermination, refugees like these Christians from Sinjar are now being taken in by churches in Dohuk, a city the militants have not yet captured.

(SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) UNIDENTIFIED CHRISTIAN MAN SAYING:

"Our life is abnormal and tragic, we don't have the even simplest tools to live here because they ( IS militants) robbed us of all our property and everything we had in our city."

For another persecuted minority, the Yazidis, Islamic State has made the options very clear.

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNNAMED ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTER, SAYING:

"We advise and plead with the Yazidis to come down from the mountains and to convert to Islam."

They can either convert to Islam...or die.

In this video, recently released by the militants, these Yazidis choose Islam...rather than share the fate of countless thousands caught in