Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief on (a) discrimination, (b) administrative deportations and (c) blacklisting resulting in the loss of employment, income, and separation of families faced by the Baha’i community in Qatar as set out in the Annex to the report entitled A/HRC/49/44: Rights of persons belonging to religious or belief minorities in situations of conflict or insecurity, published in March 2022; and if he will make a statement.

As a longstanding human rights priority, the UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. FCDO Officials, both in the UK and in Doha, have and will continue to engage with members of the Baha'i community in Qatar. Officials in Doha raised the challenges faced by some members of the Baha'i community with the Director for Human Rights from the Qatari Ministry of Interior and Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The UK Ambassador to Qatar has also raised the issue with Qatari Ministers. We will continue to raise these issues with the Qatari Government, including in light of the Special Rapporteur's for Freedom of Religion or Belief's report 'Rights of persons belonging to religious or belief minorities in situations of conflict or insecurity' published in March 2022.