Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help promote the right to freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK is committed to supporting government and civil society efforts to improve human rights, including freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka. We fund a range of projects in support of this through £8.3 million of Conflict, Stability and Security Fund funding. This includes projects that promote interfaith dialogue and increase awareness; encourage greater public debate and advocacy on issues concerning Freedom of Religion or Belief in Sri Lanka; and that counter youth radicalisation in areas prone to inter-religious conflict. Tackling inter-communal tensions will continue to remain among our priorities this year.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan on ensuring the security and protection of (a) lawyers and judges in Pakistan who are involved in blasphemy cases and (b) (i) Asia Bibi's lawyer Saiful Malook and (ii) the three Supreme Court judges involved in Asia Bibi’s case.
Answered by Mark Field
In August, the Prime Minister raised with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan the importance of Pakistan delivering on its commitments to strengthen institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law. As the Prime Minister recognised in Parliament on 14 November, Imran Khan has publicly supported the Supreme Court and promised to uphold the rule of law, while providing continued protection for Asia Bibi.
The UK is helping improve the justice system in Pakistan. Our Rule of Law programme aims to strengthen the formal criminal justice system through more effective investigations and prosecutions of crime.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Thai counterpart on the arrest of 113 Ahmadi Muslims in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
We are following closely the recent detention in Thailand of approximately 100 people, mainly from Pakistan, whom the Thai authorities consider illegal immigrants. This follows arrests of Cambodian and Vietnamese nationals at the end of August. We understand approximately 200 people who claim refugee and asylum status are currently in immigration detention, and that some of these are registered with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We believe that the recent orders are not aimed at any specific group or groups but apply to anyone whom the Thai authorities deem an illegal visa over-stayer, as part of a general tightening of immigration enforcement. In September a senior official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised our concerns about the treatment of those in immigration detention with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our Embassy in Bangkok repeated the UK’s concerns on the matter with the Thai National Security Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister on 18 October. We are also working with the Thai authorities to improve conditions of detention.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the Egyptian Government on the arrest of 25 Ahmadi Muslims in Egypt on the grounds of their religion; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I refer the Honourable Member for Mitcham and Morden to my answer to her earlier PQ on this matter (121319) on 15 January. We will continue to raise our concerns around the discrimination of religious minorities in Egypt. This includes concerns over the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Egypt. These rights are essential to improving the protection of Freedom of Religious Belief in Egypt.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Egyptian Government on the arrest of 25 Ahmadi Muslims in that country on the grounds of their religion; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I refer the Honourable Member for Mitcham and Morden to my answer to her earlier PQ on this matter (121319) on 15 January. We will continue to raise our concerns around the discrimination of religious minorities in Egypt. This includes concerns over the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Egypt. These rights are essential to improving the protection of Freedom of Religious Belief in Egypt.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Egyptian Government on the arrest of 25 Ahmadi Muslims in that country on the grounds of their religion; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We condemn all discrimination against religious minorities and constraints on their freedom to practise their faith. The Egyptian constitution contains protections for Freedom of Religious Belief and it is important that these rights are respected.
We regularly raise our concerns around the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, which are essential to improving the protection of Freedom of Religious Belief in Egypt.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the case of three Ahmadi Muslims who were sentenced to death in early November 2017 by a court in Pakistan for allegedly breaking that country's blasphemy laws; and whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Pakistan on behalf of those three people.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK remains firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. We have repeatedly called upon the Government of Pakistan to end capital punishment and, at a minimum, commit to renewing the previously imposed moratorium. We regularly raise our concerns about freedom of religion or belief and the misuse of the blasphemy laws with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), raised religious tolerance and misuse of the blasphemy laws during his visit to Pakistan in November 2016. During my visit to Pakistan earlier this month I raised the death penalty and the treatment of religious minorities, including discrimination and violence against the Ahmadiyya community with Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights.
During the Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan on 13 November in Geneva we expressed our concerns about human rights and limits on freedoms of expression and religion or belief, particularly for the Ahmadiyya Muslim and Christian communities. We called for a clear timeline for the review of legislation carrying the death penalty with the aim of limiting the scope of crimes to which it applies.
The Government will continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including those related to the death penalty and freedom of expression and religion.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterparts in Algeria on the arrest and detention of Ahmadi Muslims across Algeria since June 2016 on grounds of practising their faith.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We are aware of a number of reports of Ahmadiyya being arrested in Algeria. We have raised this with the Algerian government, who said that the arrests relate to breaches of laws which apply to all religions in Algeria. The Algerian constitution provides freedom of religion and we encourage them to make domestic law fully compatible with that. The promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief for all individuals internationally remains a high priority for the UK.