Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 119188, what response he has received from the Algerian authorities on the closure of that church.

We are concerned about church closures in Algeria, including the one near Oran city in November 2017. We are in close touch with the Protestant Church of Algeria about the closures. I met members of the Church on 23 April. The Church has raised the closures with the Algerian Ministry of Interior, and we also stand ready to raise them with the Algerian authorities, should the Church wish us to do so. The promotion and protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief is an important priority for the Government. The Minister for the Commonwealth and UN, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed the importance of Freedom of Religion or Belief with the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs in October 2017, and our Ambassador in Algeria followed up this conversation, with the Minister of Religious Affairs, in January.