Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Iraqi counterpart on the (a) return and (b) long-term settlement of Yazidi communities displaced by ISIS; and what steps he is taking to support justice mechanisms for survivors of religious persecution.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Ministers have not discussed these issues with the Iraqi government recently, but our Embassy in Baghdad has regular contact with Iraqi ministers and officials on this topic. Most recently, the deputy head of mission met the Iraqi Prime Minister's adviser on Yazidi affairs on 24 April and spoke about implementation of the Sinjar agreement and progress in the areas reconstruction - both vital for the safe return of Yazidis to the Sinjar province.

Regarding justice mechanisms, the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD) was a key pillar of the international community's commitment to hold Daesh accountable for international crimes over seven years. It made significant contributions to addressing the legacy of Daesh in Iraq, including the generation of high-quality evidence which has supported trials in third countries, and its capacity-building of Iraq's judicial system. We considered several proposals of how best to take this issue forward after UNITAD's closure in September 2024 and did push for a resolution in the council, but this did not reach required level of support in the United Nations Security Council.