LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Members of a religious minority who say they were forced to flee their homes in Iraq by Islamic extremists want to establish a cemetery in Lincoln.

Many desire a cemetery so they can maintain their sense of community and social identity. Nearly 300 Yazidi families live in the city.

Shekh Hassan, speaking through an interpreter in his apartment, says local Yazidis used to send their dead back to Iraq for burial.

But he says that option has become more difficult and dangerous now that many Yazidi cemeteries have been destroyed or overrun by the Islamic State group.

The executive director of the Good Neighbor Community Center is helping local Yazidis establish a nonprofit to collect donations to purchase land for a cemetery.