Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his international counterparts on ensuring freedom from religious persecution.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and to promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. On a multilateral level, we work within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance ('Alliance'), and other international groupings to promote and protect FoRB for all. On a bilateral level, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief.
In 2019, the Bishop of Truro issued a report commissioned by the then Foreign Secretary looking into the then FCO support for persecuted Christians, with recommendations to improve the lives of people persecuted for their religion, faith, or belief. Of the 22 recommendations, we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and we are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance, which champions the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Pakistani Government on the matter of attacks on the Ahmadi community in Peshawar.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by reports of discrimination and violence against religious communities in Pakistan, including against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
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, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, 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 Freedom of Religion or Belief in Pakistan with the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February 2021.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on the release of prisoners of conscience including the 73-year-old leader of the political opposition, Hassan Mushaima.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We continue to monitor and raise the case of Hassan Mushaima, as necessary, at senior levels with the Bahraini Government. The UK continues to engage with the Government of Bahrain to support its reform agenda, and to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 106362 on Gulf States: Overseas Aid, which of the 47 projects delivered through the Integrated Activity Fund in financial year 2019-20 were delivered solely within one country; and what those countries were.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
In 2019/20, the Integrated Activity Fund delivered 33 projects solely in the Gulf States including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 117262 on Overseas Aid, which Minister or Ministers were consulted in relation to that project.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Former Ministers from the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office were consulted about the project's Overseas Security and Justice Assessment.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the UK Government committing additional Official Development Assistance to help support progress in gender equality throughout the world in response to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on women and girls.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Across the world we are seeing the devastating impact of COVID-19. FCDO's response has been informed by the latest evidence and data which showed, early on, the disproportionate impact the pandemic would have on girls and women. For example, UNFPA estimate that there will be 15 million more cases of domestic violence for every three months of lockdown and that there will be 13 million more cases of child marriages before 2030. FCDO continues to work to ensure the needs and priorities of women and girls are central to every aspect of our response, while supporting women's participation and leadership, including through women's rights organisations.
FCDO have so far committed over £1 billion of UK aid to counter the health, humanitarian,?and socio-economic risks, and to support the global effort to find and distribute a vaccine. In addition to being the largest funder to UNFPA we provided a further £10 million in funding to maintain vital gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls in need. Our Gender-Responsive Social Protection and Better Assistance in Crises programmes are also providing expert advice to FCDO country offices, governments and partner organisations on how to strengthen social protection measures in the COVID-19 response, including how to deliver more effectively for women and girls. Our leadership on girls' education is more urgent and important than ever, with school closures. The UK has announced £20 million for the UN Children's Fund crisis appeal, which includes education, and a further £5 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund to support emergency education in fragile contexts.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to ensure an independent international fact-finding mission takes place in Cameroon to investigate allegations of human rights violations in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government is deeply concerned about the situation in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon including reports of human rights abuses and violations by both armed separatists and security forces. We continue to call for investigations into all such reports. As the UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights set out at the UN Human Rights Council on 15 September, those who have abused and violated human rights in Cameroon, as anywhere else in the world, must be held responsible. We regularly discuss the human rights situation with our international partners and in multilateral fora, calling for support to peacebuilding efforts and engagement by regional partners.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to meetings between his Ministers and Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 7 September 2020, what assessment he has made of the veracity of reports from Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon lauded the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain in promoting the protection of human rights and its countless achievements in this area.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Minister of State for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised a number of human rights issues and cases with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani during their meeting on 7 September. We believe that Bahrain is taking steps in the right direction to improve its human rights record, in line with the Bahraini Government's Action Plan, which follows the recommendations set out in the 2012 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Report. Bahrain is an FCDO human rights priority country, and we continue to monitor developments on all matters that relate to human rights within the country closely, publishing our assessments in our annual Human Rights Report, most recently in July 2020.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in Bahrain on (a) securing the release from prison of 17-year-old Kameel Juma Hasan and (b) the full realisation of his human rights and rights as a child.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are aware of the conviction and detention of Kameel Juma Hasan on terrorism charges and are monitoring his case. In response to recommendations in the BICI report and its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Bahrain is undertaking reform of its juvenile justice system. A new 'Child Restorative Justice and Protection from Abuse' Law awaits approval by the Shura Council (the appointed Upper House). As currently drafted, the new law includes a revised definition of a child as someone under the age of 18 years and a revision of the age of criminal responsibility to 15 years (it is currently 7 years). Specialist child courts and prosecutors will be established for all under 18 years on trial, with separate detention facilities for 15-18 year olds, those below 15 years old and welfare cases. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs,what recent discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the deaths of (a) Sakil Dawood, (b) Saeed Dawood and (c) Mohammed Aswat during riots in Gujarat in February 2002.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have not had any recent conversations with the Government of India about this. We stand ready to provide further consular assistance if requested.