Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help end abductions, forced conversions and forced marriages of women and girls in Pakistan.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK condemns forced marriage and the forced conversion of women and girls. We regularly raise the issue of Freedom of Religion or Belief and women and girls' rights at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. During his visit to Pakistan on 23 and 24 June 2021, Lord Ahmad met Prime Minister Khan, as well as other senior government ministers, and discussed the issue. He met interfaith leaders in order to better understand the situation of Pakistani minorities, particularly the issue of forced conversion and marriage. Most recently, he discussed the need to promote respect for all religions with Governor of Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on 28 November. The FCDO funds programmes in Pakistan that directly address early and forced marriages and gender-based violence. The UK government has supported the Government of Pakistan in setting up eight child courts to provide child-sensitive justice to children who come in contact with the law, including victims of child abuse, trafficking and child marriage.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that the caretech innovation mentioned in his Department’s White Paper on social care reform will include solutions to provide timely medication doses to people with Parkinson’s.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We will work with the social care sector and partners to produce a plan for testing the use of technology for care. The role of increased digitisation in adult social care and how this can support the administration of medication is being explored, including the administration of time critical medications for those with Parkinson’s.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to collaborate with countries neighbouring Afghanistan to (a) keep those countries' borders open and (b) resettle refugees who flee from Afghanistan by land.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
FCDO officials have engaged with governments in the region, notably Pakistan and in Central Asia, to allow Afghan nationals to cross their borders from Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. We have supported over 3,400 people to leave Afghanistan, or to move from third countries to the UK, since the end of Op PITTING. To date, the UK Government has disbursed £10 million to support preparedness in the region and to help mitigate widespread humanitarian disaster, including to £3 million to Iran, £4 million to Pakistan and £2 million to Tajikistan.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the 15,000 volunteers who participated in Novavax covid-19 vaccination trials can travel overseas in the same way as those who have received a UK-licensed covid-19 vaccination.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All Novavax trial participants can now access a domestic NHS COVID Pass and a majority the Pass for international travel. Discussions are ongoing with other countries and bodies such as the G7, G20, the European Union Commission and the World Health Organization to shape a common approach for trial participants around the world.
In consultation with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and in partnership with chief investigators of the trials, we are trial participants doses of approved vaccines, in addition to trial vaccines to ensure access to overseas travel.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to offer a place of sanctuary to people fleeing the violence in Afghanistan by expanding the Afghan Interpreters Scheme to include people engaged in UK-linked initiatives and human rights activists that mean they are at risk of targeting by the Taliban.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Home Office administered Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide protection for people at risk and identified as in need. It will prioritise those people who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan who face a particular risk from the Taliban, including because of their stand for democracy and human rights. The Government has committed to welcome around 5,000 people in the first year and up to 20,000 over the coming years.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2021 to Question 7204 on Nepal: Christianity, what steps the British Embassy takes to engage with members of faith and belief groups and civil society in Nepal; and what trends the British Embassy has identified on religious and belief tolerance in Nepal.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The British Embassy in Kathmandu regularly engages with civil society to discuss a wide range of policy priorities, including human rights, climate change, girls' education, and media freedom. The embassy also meets with representatives of faith and belief groups to hear their priorities and any concerns, and is the Chair of the Human Rights Core Group, a network of like-minded diplomatic missions, which discusses concerns related to freedom of religion or belief to drive collective action.
The UK's assessment of the trends on religious and belief tolerance is that there have not been significant recent shifts in intra-community persecution or closure of civil society space. This is due to Nepal's Constitution and legal framework forming part of the peace settlement to bring marginalised communities into Nepal's institutions, related laws being largely upheld by the courts and relevant human rights commissions, and COVID-19 related lockdowns not discriminating between different faiths or beliefs.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion or belief in Nepal.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Nepal is a secular country, and the right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Nepal's constitution. Although people may legally convert to a different religion, the constitution prohibits proselytisation, as well as religious behaviour that disturbs public order or is deemed contrary to public health, decency and morality. The British Embassy engages with members of faith and belief groups, civil society and other embassies to monitor trends.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent of persecution of Christians in Nepal.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Nepal is a secular country, and the right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Nepal's constitution. Although people may legally convert to a different religion, the constitution prohibits proselytisation, as well as religious behaviour that disturbs public order or is deemed contrary to public health, decency and morality. The British Embassy engages with members of faith and belief groups, civil society and other embassies to monitor trends.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the all-party Parliamentary group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief’s 2018 report on the treatment of different religious communities in Pakistan entitled Religious Minorities of Pakistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities around the globe. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the top priorities in our human rights strategy for Pakistan. The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs.
We continue to urge the Government of Pakistan at senior levels to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or belief. Most recently my Ministerial colleague, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised the need to promote respect for all religions with Pakistan's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi, on 23 March 2021. He also raised our concerns on FoRB in Pakistan with the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February 2021.
The UK works within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to promote and protect FoRB for all. The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all at a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the intergovernmental Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his personal commitment to the issue by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has prepared a written strategy for tackling freedom of religion or belief violations in Pakistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities around the globe. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the top priorities in our human rights strategy for Pakistan. The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs.
We continue to urge the Government of Pakistan at senior levels to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or belief. Most recently my Ministerial colleague, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised the need to promote respect for all religions with Pakistan's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi, on 23 March 2021. He also raised our concerns on FoRB in Pakistan with the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February 2021.
The UK works within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to promote and protect FoRB for all. The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all at a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the intergovernmental Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his personal commitment to the issue by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB.