Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom to worship of British Christian and Jewish visitors to Brunei.

British visitors can worship at Anglican and Catholic Churches in Brunei. The former Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, attended an Easter Sunday service at St Andrew’s Church on 20 April. There are no synagogues but private worship is permitted.

Brunei’s constitution protects religious freedom. In practice though, restrictions are imposed by administrative regulations and laws, including under the phased implementation of the Sharia (Syariah) Penal Code Order 2013. For example, proselytism by faiths other than the officially sanctioned Shafi’i school of Islam is not permitted. We urged Brunei to protect their citizens' constitutional rights to freedom of religion or belief, and to not impose restrictions on minority faith groups at their Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council in May.