Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions has she had with the Government on Sri Lanka; and whether she has raised the treatment of the Tamil people in those discussions.

The UK Government regularly engages with the Government of Sri Lanka on a range of issues, including human rights concerns such as the targeting and marginalisation of minority groups. The Foreign Secretary raised the importance of upholding human rights when she met Foreign Minister Peiris on 26 October 2021. During his visit to Sri Lanka on 18-20 January when he travelled to the North and East as well as Colombo, the Minister for South Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon met a range of civil society groups, including Tamil representatives, to discuss human rights.