Islamic State
(asked on 1st September 2014) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect the (a) Christian and (b) Yazidi population in Northern Iraq from Islamic State militants.
This question was answered on 8th September 2014
The Government has provided £23 million in immediate assistance for Iraq to provide clean water and sanitation, essential medicine and funding for NGOs and charities. This has been disbursed based on need, not by religion or ethnicity. However a great deal has gone to Christian and Yazidi communities, including 80 tonnes dropped by the RAF to refugees while trapped on Mount Sinjar. We are also providing military assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting ISIL as set out in the Prime Minister’s statement on 1 September so that they can restore control over the areas taken by ISIL. The RAF continue to carry out surveillance flights to provide greater situational awareness. I visited Iraq in late August and pressed the Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi to ensure his new government in Iraq would ensure the protection of all minorities, promote human rights and reassert the rule of law.
The Government has provided £23 million in immediate assistance for Iraq to provide clean water and sanitation, essential medicine and funding for NGOs and charities. This has been disbursed based on need, not by religion or ethnicity. However a great deal has gone to Christian and Yazidi communities, including 80 tonnes dropped by the RAF to refugees while trapped on Mount Sinjar. We are also providing military assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting ISIL as set out in the Prime Minister’s statement on 1 September so that they can restore control over the areas taken by ISIL. The RAF continue to carry out surveillance flights to provide greater situational awareness. I visited Iraq in late August and pressed the Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi to ensure his new government in Iraq would ensure the protection of all minorities, promote human rights and reassert the rule of law.