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 Sri Lanka on the establishment in that country of an office on missing persons.

​The UK supports the full implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 34/1, under which Sri Lanka committed to implement a range of measures to promote human rights, accountability, reconciliation, and devolution of political powers following the end of its civil war. We have consistently encouraged the Government of Sri Lanka to establish a credible Office of Missing Persons and have raised this issue regularly at all levels, including in our public diplomacy.

I encouraged Foreign Minister Marapana to continue to make progress on the operationalisation of an Office of Missing Persons when I met him in Colombo in October 2017. I also wrote to Foreign Minister Marapana on 7 March setting out UK views ahead of the 37^th session of the UN Human Rights Council and emphasised the importance of establishing transitional justice mechanisms.

We welcome the appointment of OMP commissioners and will continue to encourage the Government to ensure that their important work begins very soon.