Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent of persecution of members of the Sikh religion in Afghanistan.

​There is no reliable data on the number of Sikhs residing in Afghanistan, but it is estimated to be in the low thousands. Afghanistan’s Constitution states that all citizens have equal rights and that non-Muslims are free to exercise their religious beliefs. However leaders of the Sikh community continue to report discrimination. The UK strongly condemned the 1 July attack on a group of Sikhs and Hindus in Jalalabad, responsiblity for which was claimed by Daesh. Afghanistan is a priority country for the FCO’s human rights work. The UK works closely with Afghanistan’s National Unity Government, NGOs, civil society and other international partners to support the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan.