Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on (a) the Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff, Shavendra Silva, and (b) other members of the Sri Lankan military.

We keep the situation in Sri Lanka under close review, including in relation to human rights and accountability. Within this, the government keeps under active consideration how to use the diplomatic tools we have including sanctions.

The UK's Global Human Rights Sanctions regime gives the UK Government a powerful mechanism to hold accountable those involved in serious human rights violations or abuses and to send a clear signal of the values we hold.

The UK Government continues to consider designations globally, guided by evidence and the objectives of the human rights sanctions regime; but it is not appropriate to speculate on potential future designations, in order to avoid reducing their impact.