Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 26th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s assiduous pursuit of this agenda. He mentions three specific countries. I can assure him that we regularly raise issues of freedom of religion and belief not just in those countries but more widely, and not only in Commonwealth countries but across the wider network.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

3. What progress the Government are making on encouraging dialogue between the Kurdistan regional government and the Government of Iraq.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment his Department has made of the political and security situation in Iraq.

[The Minister for the Middle East (Alistair Burt)]

Through ministerial and other engagements, we are urging the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government to resolve differences on all immediate issues. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has pressed this message with Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi. The national elections in May were a pivotal moment. With Daesh defeated territorially in Iraq, the next challenge is winning the peace.

[Robert Halfon]

With the all-party group on Kurdistan, I recently visited Sulaimani University and Kurdistan University. Their students love Britain and want to study in Britain, yet are being held back by visa bureaucracy. Given that Kurdistan is in the frontline against ISIL and is a beacon of stability, can my right hon. Friend do more to unwind the bureaucracy so that more Kurdistan students can study in our country?

[Alistair Burt]

The Government’s position is to say repeatedly that we want the brightest and best students to be able to come to the United Kingdom. Our policy in Irbil is to encourage exactly the same. I will look at the question my right hon. Friend raises, because we want to ensure that students in the Kurdish region, who I have also met, are able to come to the UK.