Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Somaliland.

The human rights situation in Somaliland deteriorated in 2022, in particular the curtailing of media freedoms, restrictions on the freedoms of assembly and expression and the use of disproportionate force and live fire to disperse protestors. We see the promotion of respect for human rights as essential to peace and stability. We will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Somaliland and to work with human rights defenders across Somaliland to use our collective voice to call for change.