Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potentials threats posed to Hazara Muslims in Afghanistan.

FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities, including Shia Muslims and Hazara communities. We are working with international partners to ensure credible monitoring to hold to account those responsible for human rights abuses. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate. His recent report to the Human Rights Council included an assessment of the violence and threats against religious minorities and the situation for Hazara communities. On 8 December, the Minister for South Asia, Lord [Tariq] Ahmad of Wimbledon, met representatives from Hazara community groups.