Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Pakistani counterpart on ensuring the protection of the rights and freedoms of women and girls in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The shocking murder of a Christian priest, and wounding of another, last weekend in Peshawar was a disturbing indication of the violence faced by minorities in Pakistan. The Minister of State for South Asia, and the British High Commissioner in Islamabad have publicly condemned the attack, and British officials in Islamabad have also privately expressed their condolences to Pakistan's Christian community.
The UK regularly raises our concerns about freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and women and girls' rights at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. During his visit to Pakistan on 23 and 24 June 2021, Lord Ahmad met Prime Minister Khan, as well as other senior government ministers, and discussed our concerns. He met interfaith leaders to understand the situation of Pakistani minorities, including the issue of forced conversion and marriage. Most recently, he discussed the need to promote respect for all religions with Governor of Punjab, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, on 28 November 2021. In July the UK will host an international Ministerial Conference to advance FoRB. Under the Government's Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, the UK has supported projects in Pakistan to promote tolerance and religious freedom. The FCDO also funds programmes in Pakistan that directly address early and forced marriages and gender-based violence.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made recent representations to the Pakistani Government on the case of Maira Shahbaz.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
It is longstanding Government policy not to comment on individual cases, where to do so may put individuals or their family members in danger.
The UK strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls' rights and gender equality at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan, including on individual cases. During his visit to Pakistan in June 2021, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia met Prime Minister Khan, as well as other senior government ministers including Foreign Minister Qureshi, and Human Rights Minister Mazari. During these meetings, Lord Ahmad highlighted the need to address persecution, promote respect for all religions and increase tolerance for religious minorities. He also met interfaith leaders to understand the situation of minorities in Pakistan, particularly the issue of forced conversion and marriage of young girls. Most recently, Lord Ahmad discussed the need to promote respect for all religions with Governor of Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on 28 November, and on January 6 with Shaikh Hasan Haseeb Ur Rehman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, and Pir Naqeeb, custodian of the Eidgah Sharif Shrine in Rawalpindi. In addition to diplomatic engagement, the FCDO funds programmes in Pakistan that directly address early and forced marriages, gender-based violence and modern slavery.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Foreign Secretary had with his Pakistani counterparts during his recent visit to that country regarding the plight of Afghanistan ethnic and religious minorities fleeing through Pakistan, whether the Foreign Secretary asked for assistance in assisting those Afghans to reach safe third countries; and, if so, what response he received.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The former Foreign Secretary met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Qureshi on 3 September and discussed working together, to support the people of Afghanistan and to ensure safe passage out of the country. We will continue to explore all routes (air or land) with neighbouring countries, and what means can be put in place for Afghans to come to the UK, where that is their most appropriate destination. The PM is clear that we will support vulnerable and at risk groups, including ethnic and religious minorities, to come to the UK where appropriate.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) assessment he has made of the additional risk of the covid-19 virus to South Asian communities and (b) additional support will be provided to improve South Asian communities access to vaccines and health care.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Across the pandemic period to date, the cumulative mortality and hospital admission rates were highest in the Black and Asian groups. Among the Black and Asian groups, the Other Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups had the highest rates. The hospital admission rate for the Black and Asian groups was three times higher than the rate for the White group. The mortality rate for the Black and Asian group was two times higher than the White group.
These differences are reduced when looking at survival following infection. In the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, after adjusting for pre-existing conditions, age, sex, region and deprivation, the Bangladeshi ethnic group had the poorest survival and had 1.88 times the odds of dying once infected when compared with the White ethnic group. The Pakistani, Chinese, and Black Other ethnic groups had 1.35 to 1.45 times the odds of dying once infected and the Indian group 1.16.
Clear, informative communications explain how, at any possible opportunity, to access the vaccine. Our communications include information and advice via television, radio and social media and have been translated into 13 languages, including Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Gujarati, Hindi, Mirpur, Punjabi and Urdu. Temporary vaccination sites are in place at targeting areas with low vaccine uptake within inclusion groups and ethnic minorities.
The Government has provided up to £23.75m to local authorities and the voluntary and community sector to improve the reach of official public health guidance and other messaging or communications about the virus into specific places and groups most at risk from COVID-19.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported mistreatment of Christian Pakistanis in Pakistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government remains deeply concerned about reports of discrimination against the Christian community and other religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise these concerns at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. On 23 March, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, discussed Freedom of Religion or Belief with Pakistan's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi. On 20 February, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari. We will continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or belief.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on the effect of blasphemy laws on religious and belief minorities in that country.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government remains deeply concerned about reports of discrimination against the Christian community and other religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns regarding blasphemy laws with the Government of Pakistan. On 23 March, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, discussed Freedom of Religion or Belief with Pakistan's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi. On 20 February, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about the protection of minority religious communities, including the use of blasphemy laws, with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari. We will continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or belief.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the imprisonment of Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK government is concerned about the use of blasphemy laws, which are only compatible with international human rights law in narrow circumstances. It is our longstanding policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We are therefore concerned about the case of Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, who were sentenced to death in 2014 after being convicted for blasphemy.
We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, discussed Freedom of Religion or Belief, including the use of blasphemy laws, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February 2021. Lord Ahmad also raised concerns about the protection of religious minorities with Pakistan's Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Interior, Shahzad Akbar, on 7 December 2020.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the findings published by the BBC on 9 February 2020 entitled Covid: South Asian death rates still alarming; and what steps her Department is taking to help (a) protect ethnic minority communities from the health and economic effects of covid-19 and (b) encourage covid-19 vaccine uptake in those communities.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The government continues to assess all of the latest data and evidence about the impact of COVID-19 on different ethnic groups, including the findings of the Office for National Statistics’ analysis on which the BBC article of 9 February was based. This has been summarised in my latest report to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary, which I sent to you on Friday 26 February.
We have taken a number of steps to improve health outcomes for ethnic minority groups, including providing additional funding to the Public Health England Better Health campaign in order to reach Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups. This is in addition to existing efforts within the COVID-19 campaign to engage ethnic minorities. To mitigate the economic effects of COVID-19 we introduced an unprecedented package of support – including boosts to Universal Credit, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and the Kick-start Scheme – helping to protect incomes, jobs, and support those most in need.
Uptake of vaccines is the best way to protect people from COVID-19 and will save thousands of lives. The government has launched a multi-channel communications campaign to encourage uptake of vaccines among ethnic minority groups and to counter misinformation. We have also provided over £23m in funding to the Community Champions scheme which is enabling local authorities to use trusted local voices to encourage vaccine uptake.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on (a) Maira Shahbaz, (b) Arzoo Raja and (c) other girls who have been kidnapped, forcibly converted and married in Pakistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns on these issues with the Government of Pakistan. The Minister of State responsible for South Asia and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised our human rights concerns, including Freedom of Religion or Belief, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights on 16 November. On 7 December, Lord Ahmad raised the human rights situation in Pakistan with the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister to the Interior, Shahzad Akbar. Lord Ahmad also raised our concerns about child, early and forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from minority religious communities, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights on 19 October.
Through the UK's development support, we are encouraging policy reform at federal and provincial level to strengthen child protection laws in order to prevent child marriage. The UK's Strengthening Rule of Law in Pakistan programme aims to increase public confidence and trust in the Rule of Law. It focuses on delivering outputs that improve the justice system for victims, witnesses and offenders, including vulnerable women and girls.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on the abduction, rape, forced conversion and marriage of girls who belong to minority religions.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government strongly condemns the abduction, rape, forced conversion and forced marriage of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns on these issues with the Government of Pakistan. The Minister for South Asia raised our concerns about child, early and forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from minority religious communities, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 19 October. He raised our concerns about human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights on 16 November and with Pakistan's Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Interior, Shahzad Akbar, on 7 December.