Written question asked by David Evennett (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 April 2012. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received from representatives of the Assyrian community in the UK on the situation in Iraq.

Answer: Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in Iraq and London regularly meet representatives of Iraqi communities, including from the Assyrian and Christian communities. On 7 February I met with Assyrian Iraqi MP Imad Yokhanna Yaqo Alemadi, as part of a delegation from Iraq's Foreign Affairs Committee.The security situation for Christians has generally improved over the past 12 months, although the situation facing Iraq's ethnic and religious groups remains precarious. I raised the issue with the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights on 12 January. He assured me that Iraq took the issue very seriously and agreed that Christians were an indigenous population to Iraq and should be protected.

Secondary information