The atrocities committed by Daesh against Christians and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Iraq and Syria, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Britain has been at the forefront of efforts to rally wider international support against Daesh. Work with international partners must continue both to assist the victims and bring those responsible to justice.
Although Ministers believe genocide has taken place, the Government is clear that genocide is a matter of legal rather than political opinion, and any determination on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for the international judicial system. The UK seeks an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of the definition of specific international crimes.
The United Nations has been at the forefront of investigating these claims. The UN Human Rights Council, Security Council, General Assembly, Secretary General, and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights all have authority to establish commissions of inquiry. Most recently, the UN established inquiries into serious human rights violations in Libya, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, North Korea, Sri Lanka, and the Central African Republic. Following the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the international community and the UK Government placed substantial emphasis on the prosecution of alleged perpetrators in order to promote social reconstruction.
Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities against Christians is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. The government has a counter-terrorism strategy to prevent and disrupt plots against the UK at every stage; and a new comprehensive counter extremism strategy which seeks to tackle the extremists who cause harm, create divisions in our communities and undermine the shared values of this country.
Britain is also using its aid budget to alleviate the immediate humanitarian suffering and has now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, the UK's largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The funding is providing support, such as food, medical care and relief items, to over a million people affected by the fighting in Syria and refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.