The PHRG Chair, Ann Clwyd MP, met with two women MPs from Iraqi Kurdistan to discuss the political situation in the region and human rights abuses against Yazidi women and girls.

The MPs were:

• Miss Vian Abbas, Deputy Head of the Women’s Rights Committee;
• Miss Hayat Majeed Parkhi, Commissioner of the Women’s Rights Committee.

During the meeting, concern was raised about the continuing political deadlock in the Kurdish Parliament, which is still not sitting. The plight of Yazidi women and girls in ISIS areas was also discussed. Local centres providing essential support to those who have managed to escape are struggling to cope. Assistance from the international community is needed to rescue the women still in the hands of ISIS and to provide job opportunities and health care (including psychological treatment) to the survivors. The UK Government can also assist by providing further funding and expertise in the area, particularly through the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI).

The PHRG continues to campaign for the rights of Yazidi women and girls, and other particularly vulnerable people in Iraq and Syria, and will monitor developments in Iraqi-Kurdistan and the wider region closely.