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 recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on providing support for Yazidi women who have escaped captivity by ISIS.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Alongside continued discussion with the Government of Iraq, Ministers and officials have ongoing discussions regarding the campaign to bring Daesh to justice with European counterparts, both in Brussels and in capitals. The campaign seeks to offer support to all Daesh's victims, including Yezidis who have been subject to horrific violence at the hands of Daesh.
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: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his European partners about asylum for Yazidi women who were enslaved by Daesh to allow them to access medical and psychological support.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We regularly discuss the plight of Yazidi women and girls in Iraq and Syria with our European partners. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed the humanitarian implications of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria with members of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in December 2015.
The UK is committed to supporting the victims of Daesh’s brutality. In Syria and the wider region, the Department for International Development (DFID) is funding specialised services for survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence. This includes safe spaces, psychosocial support, cash assistance and reproductive healthcare. In Iraq, DFID has deployed two experts to work with the UN to improve the humanitarian response to sexual and gender-based violence.
Over the course of this Parliament we are resettling 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees to the UK. Resettlement is only one strand of our efforts in the region. It is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme and diplomatic efforts to end the conflicts. We believe that this approach is the most effective way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for those who remain in the region. To date, we have 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 the most vulnerable.
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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Nigerian government on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Answered by James Duddridge
Religious freedom in Nigeria is protected by the Nigerian Constitution. Boko Haram seeks to undermine this constitutional provision by attacking all Nigerians who do not subscribe to its extremist views. It has committed atrocities against people of all faiths, including Christians and Muslims, with the majority of those killed having been Muslims. We regularly discuss with the Nigerian Government at the highest levels our concern about the threat Boko Haram poses to communities of different faiths and ethnicities. We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all in Nigeria.
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, if he will hold discussions with Interserve on the inappropriateness of disciplinary action taken against cleaners who wrote to him requesting a living wage.
Answered by David Lidington
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have been in contact with Interserve and have asked them to comment on allegations that Interserve cleaners had been disciplined for writing to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) in July. Interserve informed the FCO that they had instigated an investigation to establish whether the letter breached their confidentiality agreement with staff. Interserve has since confirmed that their investigation has concluded and that no disciplinary action will be taken against any of the signatories to the letter.