Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation of Kurdish communities in the Afrin district, northern Syria.

​Afrin is largely under the de facto control of the Kurdish PYD party. We have some human rights concerns about the PYD's governance of areas it controls although these are not as severe as the human rights situation in areas held by the Syrian regime. We have particular concern about the PYD's intolerance of political opposition and reports of harassment and arbitrary detention of political opponents. NGOs and others have also raised concerns about human rights protection of those in custody under PYD authority. We are following the situation in Afrin closely since the announcement of the Turkish operation there. The UK is committed to working closely with Turkey and other Allies to find solutions in Syria that provide stability, refrain from escalating the situation and protect Turkey's security interests.