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Written Question
Myanmar: Human Rights
Wednesday 8th February 2023

Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Myanmar.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The military regime continues to commit human rights violations across the country, including against Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities. Since the coup in 2021, the military has cracked down on all opposition, with journalists, medical professionals, civil society actors and faith leaders targeted and imprisoned. On 21 December 2022, the UN Security Council passed the first ever resolution on the situation in Myanmar, led by the UK. The Resolution highlighted the oppression faced by people across Myanmar and demanded an end to violence and the release all those arbitrarily detained. To end the culture of impunity in Myanmar, we have established the Myanmar Witness programme, which collect and preserves evidence of human rights violations for future prosecution.


Written Question
Voluntary Organisations: Cost of Living
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide targeted financial support for voluntary and faith groups in the context of the cost of the living crisis.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

With government support, voluntary and faith groups have shown significant resilience over the past few years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through this challenging period.

Government is supporting all organisations, including those across the civil society sector, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Wholesale gas prices have now fallen to levels just before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and have almost halved since the current scheme was announced. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.

DCMS will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector and colleagues in government to monitor the impact of rising costs.


Written Question
Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences
Monday 16th January 2023

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people attended the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Conference; and how many and what proportion of these were from outside the UK.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The PSVI conference in November 2022 was attended by over 1,000 participants, which included over 50 countries and survivors from across the globe. The invitation list focused on a broad range of voices that included a wide range of governments, international organisations, civil society actors including survivor groups, experts from health, legal, military and academic fields, faith leaders and parliamentarians. We worked closely with the conference Survivor Advisory Group, to ensure that survivor perspectives were included throughout our planning. Over 50 percent of the delegates were participants from overseas.


Written Question
Israel: Embassies
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 September (HL 2252), what plans they have to review the location of the British Embassy in Israel; and what steps they are taking as part of any such review to consult relevant civil society organisations, non-government organisations and faith communities.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

There are no plans to move the UK embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv. Israel is a close friend and key strategic partner, built on decades of cooperation. We will continue to strengthen our relationship with Israel through our Embassy in Tel Aviv.


Written Question
International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Wednesday 28th September 2022

Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they invited Pakistani clerics Hassan Haseeb-ur-Rehman and Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rahmam to the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in July; and what assessment they made of the effect those invitations would have on religious harmony and social cohesion in the UK and beyond.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government consulted with international and domestic partners and set up a Conference Advisory Committee (CAC) with representatives from a range of religion or belief communities, academia and human rights groups to consider invitees to the UK-hosted Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

In the spirit of fostering a healthy dialogue and promoting open societies, we invited a wide and diverse range of participants from over 120 countries. We successfully brought together over 800 faith and belief leaders, human rights actors, civil society and 100 government delegations to agree and work towards joint action on promoting FoRB for all.


Written Question
International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Tuesday 27th September 2022

Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any working group comprising members of different faiths was established at the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in July to highlight important commonalities between different faiths and eradicate the myth of irreconcilable differences.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting FoRB, we hosted an International Ministerial Conference on FoRB on 5-6 July 2022.

No specific working groups were set up during the Conference, however, we worked closely with our international and domestic partners in the run up to the Conference and set up a Conference Advisory Committee with representatives from a range of religion or belief communities, academia and human rights groups. We successfully brought together over 800 faith and belief leaders, human rights actors, civil society and 100 government delegations to agree and work towards joint action on promoting FoRB for all. As outlined in our Written Ministerial Statement following the Conference ( https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-07-15/hlws204), we will continue to build coalitions of government and civil society actors focussed on key themes from the Conference, drawing on the convening power of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to promote FoRB for all.


Written Question
International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Tuesday 27th September 2022

Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any working group was set up at the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in July to address cultural practices that stigmatise other faiths and beliefs.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting FoRB, we hosted an International Ministerial Conference on FoRB on 5-6 July 2022.

No specific working groups were set up during the Conference, however, we worked closely with our international and domestic partners in the run up to the Conference and set up a Conference Advisory Committee with representatives from a range of religion or belief communities, academia and human rights groups. We successfully brought together over 800 faith and belief leaders, human rights actors, civil society and 100 government delegations to agree and work towards joint action on promoting FoRB for all. As outlined in our Written Ministerial Statement following the Conference ( https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-07-15/hlws204), we will continue to build coalitions of government and civil society actors focussed on key themes from the Conference, drawing on the convening power of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to promote FoRB for all.


Written Question
Refugees: Temporary Accommodation
Friday 26th August 2022

Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a scheme allowing refugees to temporarily stay with members of the public while awaiting permanent dispersal.

Answered by Kevin Foster

For those claiming asylum in the UK, we support and house those would otherwise be destitute whilst they await a decision on their claim.

We have no plans to house those who require our accommodation in this way with members of the public. Where someone is then subsequently granted refugee status, whilst in the United Kingdom, we would provide advice to them on onward accommodation and Local Authorities would provide housing advice and support.

For those who are granted refugee status abroad and then resettled in the UK, our Community Sponsorship Scheme enables civil society - including friends, charities and faith groups - to directly support families through both our UK Resettlement Scheme and now the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme. Those brought to the UK under Community Sponsorship must have accommodation arranged in advance.


Written Question
Religious Freedom
Tuesday 26th July 2022

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes of the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief on 5 to 6 July; and what steps they are taking, if any, to review their strategy on freedom of religion or belief following that Conference.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) hosted by the UK brought together governments, faith and belief leaders and civil society for discussions to address challenges to the enjoyment of the right to FoRB, and had positive outcomes. The Conference gave a platform to those persecuted for their religion or belief. Forty-seven governments, international organisations and other entities pledged action in support of FoRB. Thirty four countries joined the UK in signing up to a set of statements found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/international-ministerial-conference-on-freedom-of-religion-or-belief-2022-conference-statements. The Foreign Secretary outlined FCDO progress in implementing recommendations from the Bishop of Truro's report and noted the breadth of religion and belief groups that suffer from persecution. I [Lord Ahmad] announced new UK funding for support for defenders of FoRB, as well as funding and expertise for countries prepared to make legislative changes to protect FoRB.

Following the Conference, the UK Government remains committed to defending FoRB for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities, and as other human rights are, FoRB will continue to be considered in relevant Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office external and internal thematic or country strategies.


Written Question
Religious Freedom
Thursday 21st July 2022

Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office concerning Freedom of Religion or Belief and the mandate of the Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief is restricted to the provisions of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and whether it can be used to promote other substantive issues.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) hosted by the UK brought together governments, faith and belief leaders and civil society for discussions to address challenges to the right to FoRB. The Conference gave a platform to those persecuted for their religion or belief. Forty-seven governments, international organisations and other entities pledged action in support of FoRB. Thirty countries joined the UK in signing up to a set of statements. My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Elizabeth Truss), outlined FCDO progress in implementing recommendations from the Bishop of Truro's report and noted the breadth of religion and belief groups that suffer from persecution. I [Lord Ahmad] announced new UK funding for support for defenders of FoRB, as well as funding and expertise for countries prepared to make legislative changes to protect FoRB.

FCDO policy on FoRB, and the work of the FoRB Special Envoy, is grounded in international human rights law and standards and recognises the interdependence of all human rights, and the importance of respect for the promotion of democracy, rule of law and stability around the world. The role of FoRB Special Envoy is an appointment made by the Prime Minister and currently held by Fiona Bruce MP. We work closely together to promote FoRB around the world. The Human Rights Act contains protections for the ECHR Article 9 right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the new Bill of Rights will continue this protection.