Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in preparation for the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, what steps they will take to help protect the lives of Sikh families remaining in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to raise human rights, including rights of religious and ethnic minorities, in our meetings with the Taliban, including in visits of senior officials to Kabul in October 2021 and February 2022. We call on them to respect international law and uphold human rights of all Afghans. We are also encouraging them to engage in dialogue with a range of Afghans and to establish inclusive governance which better represents Afghanistan's diverse ethnic and religious groups. We continue to work closely with international partners to hold those responsible for human rights abuses to account. We supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish a Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan (appointed April 2022) and worked through the UN Security Council to strengthen human rights reporting and monitoring in the new mandate for the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) will bring together key members of the international FoRB community, in a programme that is themed around preventing FoRB violations and abuses and protecting and promoting FoRB for all.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of India's response to the protests against the proposed reforms on the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce; and what representations they have made to that government about its response.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is conscious of concerns in India, and from communities in the UK, about India's agricultural reforms. The Foreign Secretary discussed protests on this issue with his counterpart, Minister of Exterior Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, during his visit to India 14-17 December.
Our position is that the right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Democratic governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the comments by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 is fundamentally discriminatory against Muslims, what representations they are making to the government of India about ensuring equal treatment of people of all faiths when granting citizenship.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India are following reports on the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens, as well as the Government of India’s response. We raise our concerns with the Government of India where appropriate. I discussed the Government of India’s intent with, and popular response to, the CAA with India’s Minister of State for External Affairs on 19 December 2019. The British High Commissioner in New Delhi also raised this issue with the Indian Government on 6 January.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they intend to make to the government of India about the proposed National Register of Citizens; and in particular reports (1) that the Register may leave more than two million Muslims in Assam without citizenship and stateless, and (2) that detention camps are being constructed for such stateless persons.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India are following reports on the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens, as well as the Government of India’s response. We raise our concerns with the Government of India where appropriate. I discussed the Government of India’s intent with, and popular response to, the CAA with India’s Minister of State for External Affairs on 19 December 2019. The British High Commissioner in New Delhi also raised this issue with the Indian Government on 6 January.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the suicide bombing resulting in the death of 19 Sikhs in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in July, what representations they intend to make to the government of India to encourage it to offer asylum or safe passage to Sikhs wishing to leave Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Government condemned the 1 July attack on a group of Sikhs and Hindus in Jalalabad. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific publicly described it as “a despicable attack on Afghanistan’s historic Sikh and Hindu community”. As part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, the UK supports the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces in its efforts to improve security for all communities in Afghanistan. NATO’s Resolute Support Mission is also assisting the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces with security planning for the upcoming elections. The UK regularly raises human rights issues with the Government of Afghanistan, including the need to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in line with the constitution.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the suicide bombing resulting in the death of 19 Sikhs in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in July, what discussions they intend to have with Afghan authorities to safeguard the security and right to freedom of belief of the country’s remaining Sikh population.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Government condemned the 1 July attack on a group of Sikhs and Hindus in Jalalabad. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific publicly described it as “a despicable attack on Afghanistan’s historic Sikh and Hindu community”. As part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, the UK supports the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces in its efforts to improve security for all communities in Afghanistan. NATO’s Resolute Support Mission is also assisting the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces with security planning for the upcoming elections. The UK regularly raises human rights issues with the Government of Afghanistan, including the need to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in line with the constitution.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of India concerning the arrest of UK citizen Jagtar Singh Johal; and what response, if any, they have received.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British High Commission has raised this case with the Indian authorities. Following high level lobbying, consular staff visited Mr Johal on 16th November. The Rt Hon Field, the Minister for Asia and the Pacific met with Mr Johal's MP and brother on 27 November. We will continue to raise this case with the authorities to ensure we have regular and full consular access.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 7 December (HL Deb, col 1310), what assessment they have made of whether the statement that they "never allow issues about our economic relationship to get in the way of upholding international law and international humanitarian law" is consistent with the remarks in June 2014 by the then Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, Michael Fallon, that "we should not allow" concerns about human rights "to get in the way of a very important trade relationship".
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As the first country to produce a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights we have advocated the view that the promotion of business and respect for human rights go hand in hand. We see these as mutually reinforcing. The degree of influence we have with a country, including on human rights issues, depends on many factors; as a general rule we have more influence with countries with whom we have a strong trade and investment relationship.Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the statement in 2014 by the Indian Home Minister describing the 1984 killings of Sikhs in India as genocide, whether they are pushing, or plan to push, for an international inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The tragic losses of lives during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 remain a source of deep pain to Sikhs everywhere around the world. We recognise the deep scars that this has left and the understandably strong feelings that exist to this day. We are aware of reports of the Indian Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, referring to the anti-Sikh riots as genocide. Any inquiry is a matter for the Indian government.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 7 April 2014 (HL WA244), and the oral answer by the Earl of Courtown on 16 June (HL Deb, col 1077), why they consider the mass killing of Sikhs in India to be a matter for the government of India alone, and not an issue for the international community.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The events of June 1984 at Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar led to a tragic loss of life and remain a source of deep pain to Sikhs everywhere around the world. We recognise the deep scars that this event left and the incredibly strong feelings that exist to this day. Relations between the Sikhs in India and the Indian government is an internal matter between those two parties.