Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) protect Hazara Muslim communities in Afghanistan from violence and (b) support Hazara Muslims refugees to help them to travel to the UK.

We regularly press the Taliban to respect the human rights of all Afghans and to protect minority groups, including Hazaras, from attacks. On 7 October, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate to monitor and report on the situation for another year.

The Government is working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to resettle refugees through UNHCR's standard resettlement categories, based on an assessment of protection needs and vulnerabilities. The first arrivals have already been welcomed to the UK and we will continue to receive further UNHCR referrals for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.