Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they now recognise that a genocide is underway against minorities in Syria and Iraq; and whether the opinion set out in <i>The Sunday Telegraph</i> on 27 March that ISIS "are engaged in what can only be called genocide of the poor Yazidis" by the new Foreign Secretary reflects their official position.

This Government shares the House of Commons’ condemnation of Daesh atrocities against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yazidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Iraq and Syria who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

We are fully committed to working internationally to ensure Daesh is held to account for its crimes. Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That is why the UK is playing a leading role in the Global Coalition of more than 66 countries and international organisations united to defeat Daesh.