Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the Hazara community in Afghanistan.

FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities. We are working with international partners to ensure credible monitoring to hold those responsible for human rights abuses to account. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate. His latest report to the Human Rights Council included an assessment of the situation for Hazara communities. We regularly engage with Hazara representatives who provide vital insight on the situation. Most recently, on 8 December 2022, the Minister for South Asia met representatives from Hazara community groups.