Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the refugees taken under the Syrian vulnerable person resettlement programme are (1) Christian, (2) Yazidi, (3) Muslim, and (4) male.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
With all of our resettlement schemes we work closely with UNHCR to identify cases that they deem most in need of resettlement according to their established vulnerability criteria.
The number of people who have been resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is published in the quarterly Home Office statistics. Of those resettled between the former Prime Minister’s announcement on 7 September 2015 and 30 June 2016, the period covered by the Home Office’s most recently published statistics, 51.5% were male.
The religious and ethnic breakdown of those resettled under this scheme is something that we will be monitoring but will not be publishing.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to Yazidi and Christian minority refugee groups from Syria and Iraq who have experienced sexual abuse from Daesh.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has pledged over £2.3 billion in response to the Syria crisis and since June 2014, has committed £169.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq.
Through the United Nations' Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, UK aid is providing life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialised support for escapees of Daesh terror. We are also supporting the implementation of Iraq's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security focusing on capacity building and support for victims of gender-based violence.
We have provided £7 million for projects in Syria, including capacity building for gathering evidence of Sexual Violence and other Human Rights violations and advocacy work. In 2015-16 the UK assisted 135,627 people (adults and children) in Syria with psychosocial support.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the refugees taken under the vulnerable children's Resettlement Scheme are (1) Christian, (2) Yazidi, (3) male Muslims over 15-years old.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The former immigration Minister announced on 21 April 2016 that a new scheme would be introduced to resettle vulnerable children from the Middle East and North Africa region, which would bring up to 3,000 people to the UK over the life of the Parliament.
Data on the number of people who have been resettled under this scheme will be published in the quarterly Home Office statistics.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding has been provided to the (a) Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga, (b) Kurdish government in Northern Syria and (c) Yazidi community to (i) gather evidence of alleged acts of genocide and (ii) support displaced persons in refugee camps.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Since June 2014, DFID has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable internally displaced people in Iraq, including Yezidis and those living in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. To date, the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. Our support is reaching vulnerable and displaced Syrians, including those living in areas controlled by Kurdish groups.
On 21 July the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will lead a global campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes. In Iraq, the Foreign Office has funded projects to support the documentation of Daesh crimes and preservation of evidence. In Syria, UK funding supports a range of NGO partners to compile case files of evidence of atrocities approximating to International Criminal Court (ICC) standards.
DFID has not provided funding to the Peshmerga, or to the governing authorities in Kurdish-dominated parts of Syria.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33790, if he will raise with the UK's European partners allowing Yazidi women in Iraq temporary residence in European countries to access medical and psychological support after rape and torture by Daesh.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We remain extremely concerned by the barbarity and inhumanity which Daesh has shown towards all Iraq’s communities, and welcome European partners’ support to the humanitarian response
We understand the depth of feeling at the suffering which Yezidi women have experienced, and calls for them to be granted temporary residence. Our priority is providing assistance to Yezidi women, and other vulnerable Iraqis, within Iraq. We can help more people through providing aid in Iraq compared to bringing people to the UK.
Through the Department for International Development we have committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian effort to help those who have fled Daesh’s brutality in Iraq. This support is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the country, including the most vulnerable groups, which includes Yezidis. UK aid has provided medicine, emergency kits, psychological support, clean water and improved sanitation, shelter and cash assistance. The UK is the largest donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund. This is providing life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialised support for escapees of Daesh terror.
All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of need, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will establish a treatment programme to support the rehabilitation of young Yazidi and other women.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK is committed to supporting the victims of Daesh’s brutality. Through our Human Rights and Democracy Fund we are supporting a project that offers survivors of sexual violence, including from the Yezidi community, access to health and psychiatric support. This project plans to reach 2,400 women across Erbil, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk and Zakho. We have also translated the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict into Kurdish, to build further the capacity of Kurdish human rights, justice and healthcare professionals to respond to and document these crimes.
We are providing £750,000 to help implement Iraq’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to support women’s involvement in conflict resolution and the response to gender-based violence. More widely, the UK is providing £79.5 million to the humanitarian response in Iraq. This assistance is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the country, including the most vulnerable groups, such as Yezidis. All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of need, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from captivity by Daesh and are now (a) being given refuge by organisations in Iraq and (b) in refugee camps in Turkey.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from Daesh captivity. Some reports suggest the figure could be approximately 2500 but there is no definitive estimate.
There are now over 3.4 million Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq. Our humanitarian partners do not take into consideration the ethno-religious origins of people requiring assistance. Assistance is provided on a needs basis, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. It is therefore very difficult to breakdown figures for those being cared for by organisations in Iraq or in refugee camps in Turkey on the basis of religion.
To date, the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion of humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and provided an additional £79.5 million to Iraq to help support those displaced by Daesh.
Asked by: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing for Yazidi women who have been enslaved by Daesh; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. This assistance is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across Iraq, including the most vulnerable groups, such as Yazidis. All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of need, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity.
The UK is the largest donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund which, amongst other projects, has funded specialist protection and rehabilitation for escapees of Daesh terror in Iraq.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise Islamic State's treatment of the Yazidi people as an act of genocide.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.
As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and other ministers have explained in response to similar questions, it is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for the international judicial system rather than legislatures, governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.
Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of how many Yazidi civilians are held by Daesh forces in Iraq and Syria.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We do not hold figures for the numbers of Yezidi civilians who are being held by Daesh forces. The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution by Daesh of Yezidis, Christians, Muslims and all other communities.
Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in the Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations committed to tackling Daesh.
We are also using our aid budget to alleviate the humanitarian suffering caused by Daesh and the wider conflict in Syria. The UK has now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The funding is providing support, such as food, medical care and relief items, to over a million people including those targeted by Daesh. This includes life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialized support for those who have escaped Daesh’s terror.