Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will co-ordinate an international effort to encourage Christians and other religious minorities who have left Iraq and Syria to return to those countries to rebuild their lives.

The UK supports the right of all Iraqi and Syrian refugees, regardless of religion, to return to their homes safely, voluntarily and in dignity, when conditions allow.

Syria is not currently an environment for safe, voluntary and dignified refugee return. We are calling for a negotiated political settlement to end the conflict and create the conditions for refugees to return.

During my visit to Iraq in January I raised the importance of voluntary returns of refugees and internationally displaced persons with representatives from the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government. To help enable these returns, the UK has committed over £47 million to directly improve conditions in areas liberated from Daesh in Iraq, including an additional £6.9 million which I announced during my visit.