Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of recent attacks against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka; and whether she has considered imposing sanctions on that country in response to those attacks.

The UK Government regularly engages with the Sri Lankan Government on a range of issues, including human rights concerns such as the targeting and marginalisation of minority groups. We closely monitor the human rights situation, including developments in the North and East, through regular engagement with regional civil society and political representatives. The Minister for South Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has strongly condemned violence against peaceful protesters in Sri Lanka. He has reiterated fundamental rights, including the right to peaceful protest, must be protected.

Sanctions are one response among a number of diplomatic tools we can deploy around the world as part of a broader political strategy in order to change or send a political signal regarding particular behaviours. The Global Human Rights sanctions regime was introduced in July 2020, and gives the UK a powerful tool to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations. We keep all evidence and potential listings under close review. It would not be appropriate to speculate about future designations under the sanctions regime as to do so could reduce their impact. We will continue to consider a range of approaches to tackle serious human rights violations and abuses around the world.