Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote freedom of religion or belief in Somaliland, including for the Christian community.

We consistently urge the Somaliland authorities to uphold human rights. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief raised the issue of religious freedom and due process in the case of detained Christian converts in a letter to the Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 October 2022. We see the promotion of respect for human rights as essential to peace and stability in the region. 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.