Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the causes of marginalisation of minority communities in Iran.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK remains committed to holding Iran accountable for its systemic targeting and repression of religious and ethnic minorities. We were integral to the delivery of the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the United Nations Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity and to ensure rights are upheld, and to eliminate all forms of discrimination and human rights violations against ethnic minorities, including but not limited to, Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis and Kurds. In January, the Foreign Secretary raised human rights directly with his Iranian counterpart.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to secure help peace between Kurdish forces and the Syrian government; and what support he is providing to the Kurdish diaspora in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We support a Syrian-led political transition process leading to an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government that includes representative figures from across Syria, including Kurds. We emphasise this in our diplomatic engagement with the interim Syrian authorities, through Ministers as well as our Syria Envoy. We will judge them by their actions.
More broadly, the UK supports Kurdish communities in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, as well as diaspora groups, promoting their rights and integration within their home countries. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office maintains engagement with a range of Syrian groups and individuals, including Kurds, in the UK.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will include Kurds from Iraq and Iran in the streamlined asylum process.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
From 23 February, legacy claims from nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen will be considered through the Streamlined Asylum Process.
This is on the basis of their current high-grant rate of protection status (refugee status or humanitarian protection). All these nationalities have a grant rate of over 95% and over 100 grants of protection status in the year-ending September 2022. Please see Migration statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information.
Upon arrival, all asylum seekers undergo a screening interview, as well as robust security checks in which they will provide biometric information.
Separate work is ongoing to more efficiently process all other asylum claims admitted to the UK asylum system awaiting consideration. To further accelerate decision making we will further drive productivity improvements by simplifying and modernising our system. This includes measures like shortening interviews, removing unnecessary interviews, making guidance simpler and more accessible, dealing with cases more swiftly where they can be certified as manifestly unfounded (e.g. Albania) and recruiting extra decision makers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential threat posed to ethnic Arabs in Iran by the Iranian Government.
Answered by Mark Field
We continue to be concerned by reports of substantial violations of the rights of ethnic minorities and their defenders in Iran, including but not limited to Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Turkmen, and Azerbaijani Turks.
We regularly raise the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran with the Iranian Government, and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues.