Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom on freedom of religion or belief in Iraq.

We note the findings in the report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, including on prolonged government formation and freedom of religion and belief in Iraq. Promotion of the right to freedom of religion and belief is a longstanding human rights priority for the UK and we are firmly committed to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq. Lord Ahmad raised this with religious and political leaders during his visit to Iraq earlier this month.