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 implications for his policies of Aid to the Church in Need's report entitled Persecuted and Forgotten?, published on 22 October 2024; and whether he plans to implement the recommendations on helping tackle the persecution of religious minorities worldwide.

We note the recent report by Aid to the Church in Need; "Persecuted and Forgotten?" and are considering its findings and recommendations. The UK government seeks to address the severity and scale of violations and abuses of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We tackle these issues bilaterally through our diplomatic network, and multilaterally, by coordinating with partners at fora such as the UN to promote FoRB. We did so most recently at the UN General Assembly Third Committee, 79th Session, in discussion with the Special Rapporteur for FoRB.