Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in China on that country's organ transplant programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We continue to engage the Chinese authorities on our concerns surrounding their organ transplant programme. I opened the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 27 October, where my officials raised these concerns, and also allegations of forced organ removals, with the Chinese delegation. My officials have raised the issue separately with the Chinese Embassy and our Embassy in Beijing has received information from the National Health and Family Planning Commission in China about their handling of organ transplants.
As my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan MP), the Minister for Europe and the Americas, stated in a Westminster Hall debate on 11 October 2016: "Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of "organ harvesting" is definitely happening in China."
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to raise the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in India during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the UK in November 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
India and the UK have a rich, wide-ranging and mature bilateral relationship. We will discuss a broad spectrum of issues during Prime Minister Modi's visit.
The UK raises a range of human rights matters with India, including religious freedom and the treatment of ethnic minorities, both bilaterally and through the EU. This includes meeting Union and State level government institutions, such as the Indian National Commission for Minorities, which the British High Commission in New Delhi met earlier this month. The High Commission also stays in regular contact with civil society organisations and senior faith leaders working on religious freedom across India.