Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to curb the sale of looted antiquities from Syria on the international market.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to preventing the sale of looted antiquities. Through our International Cultural Heritage Protection programme, we work closely with international partners, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), Blue Shield International and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on projects to prevent the trafficking and sale of looted antiquities, including those from Syria.
We have a range of provisions in international and domestic UK law, including criminal offences, to protect cultural objects from unlawful removal and illicit trade. UK authorities work with the UK art market and online selling platforms, such as eBay, to combat the sale of stolen and looted cultural objects. The Government encourages anyone who believes that a cultural object has been stolen or looted to raise it with the appropriate authorities.