Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they estimate IS to have received in kidnap ransoms; and what assessment they have made of the reported Iraqi intelligence estimates that they have received $200 million.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
There is considerable speculation over how much the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other terrorist groups have secured from kidnapping for ransom. In October 2014 the UN Al Qaeda Sanctions Monitoring Team estimated that ISIL had received between US$35 and US$45 million in ransom payments in the preceding twelve months.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which governments they are aware of which have paid ransoms to IS; and what discussions they have had with them.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UN Al Qaeda Sanctions regime sets out the international legal framework. It makes clear that ransom payments to terrorist organisations are illegal. All UN Member States are bound by this. We are unable to comment on reports of ransom payments by other countries.
The UK policy position is clear. We do not pay ransoms or make any other substantive concessions to terrorists. Ransom payments strengthen terrorist groups and encourage them to carry out further kidnaps. This is why the UK has also led the drive to secure agreement on the principle of not paying ransoms. Under UK Presidency in 2013 the G8 made an unequivocal commitment to reject ransom payments to terrorists. The UK also secured the first standalone UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) on tackling terrorist ransom payments, which was unanimously adopted in January 2014, as UNSCR 2133.