Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne McLaughlin and Desmond Swayne

Wednesday 16th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow North East) (SNP)]

5. What support her Department is providing to Yazidi communities in Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Desmond Swayne)]

Our response to the Syria crisis is a commitment of more than £2.3 billion, with an additional £79.5 million to Iraq. All our aid is distributed according to need, irrespective of creed or ethnicity.

[Anne McLaughlin]

Daesh is systematically targeting Yazidi children, forcing little girls into sexual slavery and conscripting young boys as child soldiers, yet there are reports from Turkey that support is not reaching some of the Yazidi refugee camps near the Syrian border. What steps is the Department taking to help ensure that children rescued from Daesh receive the support they need and that support reaches survivors in those camps?

[Mr Swayne]

The first thing is that we have gone to war with Daesh, and that is a very significant contributor. Equally, we are supporting the UNHCR and a number of organisations that are principally funded through the Iraqi national action plan and the Iraq pooled fund, to which we are the largest contributor.