China: Human Rights

(asked on 2nd March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they use to assess whether to impose global human rights sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; why they (1) have imposed such sanctions on the government of Myanmar, and (2) have not imposed such sanctions on the government of China; and what plans they have to write to the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee setting out the background of each statutory instrument which imposes, or amends, sanctions when they are laid before Parliament, as requested in the letter from that Committee to the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 9 September 2020.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 12th March 2021

The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 set out the designation criteria that Ministers must be satisfied are met prior to making a designation. In addition, Her Majesty's Government has published a policy note setting out factors relevant to whether a person may be designated under these regulations.

In July 2020, the Commander in Chief and Deputy Commander in Chief of the Tatmadaw were designated under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime for their involvement in the systematic and brutal violence against the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, in which 700,000 Rohingya were forcibly displaced with tens of thousands killed, tortured and subject to sexual violence.

The government remains gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. On 12 January the Foreign Secretary announced robust, targeted measures to help ensure that British organisations, whether public or private sector, are not complicit in, nor profiting from, the human rights violations in Xinjiang. We also continue to play a leading role in holding China to account for its human rights violations in the region, working closely with international partners, including at the UN. We will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.

Her Majesty's Government publishes explanatory memoranda and other detailed statutory reports to provide background to each statutory instrument laid under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.

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