THE ROLE OF THE KURDS IN FIGHTING DAESH

That this House warmly congratulates the Kurdistan Regional Government's brave Peshmerga and other Kurdish allies on recapturing Sinjar from Daesh with the assistance of international coalition airstrikes; recognises that this is not only a major psychological defeat but also severs the main supply road for Daesh forces between Raqqa and Mosul; further recognises that the Peshmerga, already protecting Mosul Dam, are vital in defending the Kurdistan region, which has a 650-mile border with Daesh, and could play a major supporting role in the liberation of Mosul; notes however, that the Peshmerga have not been paid for two months in an economic crisis in the Kurdistan region caused by continuing and unconstitutional cuts in federal budget entitlements to the Kurdistan Regional Government, which also carries the bulk of the burden of looking after nearly two million refugees and internally-displaced people; and urges the Government and the wider international community, in recognising the pivotal military, political and cultural role of the Kurds in tackling Daesh, to help persuade the federal government in Baghdad to play fair by the Kurds in a new political settlement that can also persuade Sunnis that they will be treated fairly and so further undermine Daesh rule.