Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Eritrea about the 21-year imprisonment of seven Christian pastors, and what steps they are taking to increase efforts for the release of those pastors.

We continue to raise the issue of human rights with the Eritrean government, including on religious freedoms, both through our Embassy in Asmara and through multilateral fora. We advocate for the end of all discriminatory detentions based on religion or belief, as we have stated at the UN Human Rights Council, and call for all those unjustly incarcerated to be released. The UK's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea raised human rights during her most recent visit to Eritrea in April 2025 and the UK supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2025.