Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the human rights risk assessments undertaken for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in the Maldives in relation to the Government’s policy on Overseas Security and Justice Assistance.

UK assistance in Maldives is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations. OSJAs are not published as they are internal documents which include a sensitive UK assessment of the human rights situation in a country at a given time. Disclosure could prejudice the UK's relations with foreign states, as well as its interests and ability to promote those interests. To be useful, OSJA assessments must be honest and remain relevant. In some cases, assessments may draw on material that is not publicly available and has been provided to the UK "in confidence". Disclosure could affect provision of such information in the future and compromise the ability to make sound OSJA assessments going forward.