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 implications for his policies of the hunger strike by Mrs Ambihai Selvakumar in protest at the issues facing the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

The UK Government is aware of the hunger strike being carried out by Mrs Ambihai Selvakumar, and recognises the concerns she has raised regarding the issues faced by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. We have highlighted similar concerns about the lack of progress towards post-conflict accountability and the wider human rights situation, including in statements to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in February, June and September 2020. The Minister of State for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also set out our serious concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka in a statement at the UNHRC on 25 February. He has raised the importance of accountability, justice and reconciliation on several occasions with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, most recently during calls on 12 February and 22 January respectively.

The UK, alongside Core Group partner countries, is leading a new resolution on Sri Lanka at the current UNHRC session. The draft resolution provides a framework for continued international engagement on human rights and post-conflict accountability. It calls on the government of Sri Lanka to investigate and prosecute all allegations of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international law, and highlights concerns about the human rights situation, including particular concerns about the protection of minorities.

We will continue to press for a strong role for the UNHRC to help advance accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka. Lord Ahmad has also responded by letter to the organiser of a petition related to Mrs Ambihai Selvakumar's hunger strike.