Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Iraq.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities.

Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. HRH Prince Charles discussed the need to promote FoRB with Iraq's Prime Minister Kadhimi during his visit to London in October 2020. HMA Baghdad regularly discusses the need to protect and empower religious minorities with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The UK is working to support the rights of religious minorities in Iraq who were the victims of appalling Daesh crimes. To enable the return of internally displaced persons, including minorities, we have contributed £28 million to the UNDP Funding Facility for Stabilisation, which is restoring vital infrastructure and basic services in areas liberated from Daesh. In order to support the prosecution of Daesh crimes in Iraq, we have provided £2 million to the UN Investigative Team for the Accountability of Daesh (UNITAD) and are encouraging close co-operation between UNITAD and the Government of Iraq to achieve justice for Daesh's victims.

The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the International Freedom of Belief Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance who work to advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.