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.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the living conditions of the Yazidi community in refugee camps in Iraq.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. UK aid is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across Iraq, including the most vulnerable groups, such as Yezidis. All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of needs and in line with humanitarian principles which ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity . According to the International Organisation for Migration, the vast majority of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq live in host communities, with around 10% of all Iraqi IDPs living in camps.
On a field visit to Dohuk in January 2016, DFID officials met with a number of displaced Iraqis, including Yezidis, and discussed their shelter needs and living conditions. This included members of the Yezidi community who were living in poor conditions in informal settlements. The DFID team were told that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had undertaken to relocate these individuals to a camp with appropriate services and conditions. However, this offer had been declined by Yezidi heads of households because of a perception that the camps were too far from employment opportunities although it appeared that other members of the community held differing views about the suitability of the camps.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4827), in the light of the statements of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, in their press releases on Islamophobia (Dec 2015), some religious leaders’ incitement to Holy War (Sept 2015), bombing by the Assad regime (June 2015), and concerns about people caught in Yarmouk (April 2015), where their statements about the murder, abduction, enslavement and genocide of Christians and Yazidis appear.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Statements made by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect are published on the UN website.
The statements cover a range of issues including incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; urging against rhetoric that escalates the risk of violence against religious communities; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; expressing outrage at speeches and media articles that dehumanise Alawites and Christians; expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yazidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls; expressing concern at the situation of religious and other minorities, noting that members of the Christian community were fleeing the northern city of Mosul following the Daesh-led invasion; urging leaders in the wider region to refrain from using or condoning any language that may escalate sectarian tension; calling on all actors to condemn hate speech that could constitute incitement to violence against communities based on their religious affiliation.
The complete statements are attached to this response, and the link to the website is provided below for your ease of reference: http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/statements.shtml
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what efforts are being made through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Scheme to assist refugees in (a) the Yazidi, Druze or Christian communities or (b) other communities who do not reside in the main refugee camps because of fears of religious persecution.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UNHCR identifies people in need of resettlement based on the following criteria: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries. Individuals are not specifically identified for resettlement based on their membership of Yazidi, Druze, Christian or other communities but members of those communities may well meet one of the other vulnerability criteria set out by UNHCR.
The UNHCR identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the Vulnerable Persons Scheme scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the UK is offering to Yazidi people.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
UK aid 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 to ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity. The UK works with the Government of Iraq, Kurdish Regional Government, the UN and the international community to support the rights of all minorities and to ensure our aid reaches those in greatest need.
To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following their policy of prioritising survivors of sexual violence for their Syrian refugee resettlement programme, what similar action they are taking in respect of the situation of Yazidi women and girls.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government is deeply concerned about the crises in Syria and Iraq and the suffering and hardship they are causing for millions of people, particularly those who have endured appalling violence, persecution and abuse. We are committed to helping those in need and have so far provided £39.5 million to help the 2.2 million displaced Iraqis, many of whom were victims of ISIL’s persecution. These funds provide food, shelter, water and medical care to thousands of vulnerable families.
Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the Government. The action we are taking includes providing funding to support the UN Population Fund in the coordination and information management of the international response to support victims of sexual and gender based violence. The UK has also specifically committed funding to help establish community outreach teams that are providing psychosocial support and referrals to appropriate services for survivors of sexual and gender based violence.
We will continue to be actively involved in the region and will closely monitor developments but we have no current plans to expand the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, or implement a similar scheme specifically for Iraq.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have studied the report by Amnesty International detailing the extent of sexual violence by Islamic State on Yazidi women in Iraq; and whether they will now increase the number of refugees from the region being resettled in the United Kingdom, including Yazidi survivors of sexual violence.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government is aware of Amnesty International’s report and condemns all forms of sexual violence. However the Government does not consider that a policy of increasing the number of refugees resettled from the affected region is the most effective way to address the suffering of those displaced.
We believe we can make a greater impact and help more people through the provision of substantial humanitarian aid in the region and by working with the Iraqi government and international partners to find a solution to the conflict. The UK has committed £39.5 million to meet humanitarian needs in Iraq, including shelter, water, sanitation and medical care. Our aid is reaching displaced people across Iraq, including in the Kurdish region, where many Yazidis have fled to. We are also working with the Iraqi government and the international community to tackle the threat posed by ISIL and promote an inclusive, sovereign and democratic Iraq which will protect all Iraqi citizens.
The UK is ready to assist those from Iraq and other war-torn areas of the Middle East who come here in search of protection from violent persecution. We do so without discrimination, in accordance with the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Government believes that this approach is the best way to help Iraqi nationals who have left their countries, and we therefore have no current plans to implement or extend resettlement schemes.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he is taking to protect the Yazidi community in and around Mount Sinjar from ISIS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Julian Brazier
The Ministry of Defence has not conducted any humanitarian aid drops in and around MountSinjar since the summer, although the coalition has done. UK and coalition airstrikes, in support of Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga, have continued to check and push back ISIL, helping to reduce the threat posed to the Yazidi community.
The Department for International Development is leading the UK's humanitarian response. The UK Government is delivering £39.5 million of aid to Iraq. This includes: support to over 200,000 people affected by the recent crisis, delivering essential winter supplies to 14,000 vulnerable displaced families, providing cash and voucher assistance to help 16,000 families buy warm winter clothing and ensuring 4,500 families are sheltered from winter conditions.