Written question asked by Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 12 March 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 14 March 2019. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 20 March 2019 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq: Christianity

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to his Iraqi counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Answer: We regularly engage with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government on the need to protect the rights of Christians and other religious minorities. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon raised this with Iraqi Foreign Minister Al-Hakim in December 2018. We continue to follow this issue actively. During my visit to Iraq in January I discussed the situation of Christians with the Archbishop of Erbil and in February Our Ambassador to Iraq visited Christian communities in six towns across the Ninewa Plain of north-western Iraq, previously occupied by Daesh.

Secondary information