Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support investigations into cases of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

The UK supports the steps Sri Lanka has taken since 2015 under UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, which it co-sponsored. The establishment of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), and the passage of domestic legislation to implement Sri Lanka's commitments under the International Convention on Enforced Disappearances in March are welcome. The discovery of a mass grave in Mannar over the summer underscores the importance of this work. But more needs to be done. I hope that an Office for Reparations can be established soon to complement the OMP's work, together with other necessary transitional justice mechanisms.

I have repeatedly raised the need for more progress with the Government of Sri Lanka, most recently with Foreign Minister Marapana in April. I will take this up again when I visit Sri Lanka later this year. Our High Commission in Colombo also remain actively engaged. The UK has committed £7.9 million, 2016-19, to support Sri Lanka's reform agenda. This includes projects which advance reconciliation and the rule of law, and funding to Sri Lanka's Peacebuilding Priority Plan, which includes UN technical and other support to establishing the OMP.