To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 21 January (HL12614), what assessment they have made of the comments of Chaldean Archbishop Habib Nafali of Basra that the Christian population of Iraq has reduced from around 1.5 million in 2003 to 250,000 in 2018.
Answered on
5 February 2019
The exact number of Christians in Iraq is difficult to confirm, as Iraq has not held a nationwide census in many years. The UK remains concerned by the decreasing number of Christians and we are firmly committed to protecting all ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and the region. Minister Burt met with the Archbishop of Erbil during his recent trip to Iraq, and UK Embassy staff regularly meet with representatives of Christian and other minority communities to discuss their situation. We continue to raise the needs of these communities with the Government of Iraq. For example, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon reinforced the need to protect ethnic and religious minority communities with Iraqi Foreign Minister Al-Hakim in December 2018.