Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Syria.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities.

Christians and people of other religions or beliefs have suffered in the Syrian conflict, persecuted particularly by Daesh. The UK is committed to supporting efforts to bring an end to this conflict as quickly as possible through the UN-facilitated political process, which aims to reach a lasting political settlement which protects the rights of all Syrians. We also support efforts to pursue accountability for the most serious crimes committed in Syria and have contributed over £13 million since 2012 in support of Syrian and international efforts to gather evidence and assist victims of human rights abuses and violations, including support to the UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism.

The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB.