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 whether funding from Sri Lanka's Conflict and Stabilisation and Security Fund programme has been spent on training the Sri Lankan police and security forces involved in the response to the May 2022 protests.

The UK's Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) has funded police training in Sri Lanka.

The British High Commission recently commissioned a review to look at the impact of UK support to the Sri Lankan police to date, identify lessons learned and make recommendations with regards to future programmes. The current project contract and CSSF programme cycle concluded on 31 March 2022. The British High Commission is considering its approach to any future CSSF programme and the review will be taken into account alongside a number of factors.

The UK Government is closely monitoring the political, economic and security situation in Sri Lanka. The Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has emphasised that violence against peaceful protestors is unacceptable. Those responsible for attacks should be held to account and fundamental rights must be protected.