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 Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of schools that offer only halal meals; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that policy on children in such schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government sets out required minimum standards in the attached School Food Standards to ensure that children are served healthy, nutritious meals. The standards do not specify food requirements in terms of cultural and religious needs.
Within these standards, headteachers, governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies. Information on the types of food provided in schools and the number of schools that offer only halal meals is not held centrally.
Schools should act reasonably in their provision of food, providing choices that take account of cultural, religious and special dietary needs, and we expect them to work with parents in making appropriate arrangements. In particular, schools should consult with parents when making changes to school food provision and ensure parents have access to information on the food provided.
Schools may consider providing both halal and non-halal food each day, or ensuring that dishes are clearly labelled to allow pupils to select the appropriate choice.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that all schools provide a non-halal meal option.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government sets out required minimum standards in the attached School Food Standards to ensure that children are served healthy, nutritious meals. The standards do not specify food requirements in terms of cultural and religious needs.
Within these standards, headteachers, governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies. Information on the types of food provided in schools and the number of schools that offer only halal meals is not held centrally.
Schools should act reasonably in their provision of food, providing choices that take account of cultural, religious and special dietary needs, and we expect them to work with parents in making appropriate arrangements. In particular, schools should consult with parents when making changes to school food provision and ensure parents have access to information on the food provided.
Schools may consider providing both halal and non-halal food each day, or ensuring that dishes are clearly labelled to allow pupils to select the appropriate choice.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 14 January (HL Deb, col 7), what measures they have put in place to ensure equal consideration of all faiths in the development and implementation of policy relating to discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), as a public authority, has a duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to assess the impact of our policies on people with protected characteristics, and to consider whether it is possible to mitigate or avoid any negative impacts. This includes people with a faith or belief. For each policy, we complete an Equality Impact Assessment. To assist with completing these assessments, in addition to formal consultations, MHCLG Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of partners, from across faiths and beliefs, to discuss policy considerations. This engagement includes our quarterly Sikh stakeholder roundtable and Lord Bourne’s England-wide Faith Tours.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 14 January (HL Deb, col 7), what evidence there is that there are more attacks on the Muslim community than any other.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government treats all forms of hate crime equally seriously. Two separate statistical sources used by Government show the scale of hate crimes targeted at Muslims in relation to hate crimes against other faith groups.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), published by the Office for National Statistics in October 2018, portrays the experience of hate crime. It is estimated that 0.1 per cent of adults (105,459) were victims of a religiously motivated hate crime in the 12 months prior to interview. The 2015/16 to 2017/18 CSEW showed that 0.8% of Muslim adults were the victim of religiously motivated hate crime, which was the highest percentage for a faith group where data is available.
The full breakdown from the CSEW is as follows:
Christian - (61,804) 0.0%
Buddhist - (489) 0.%
Hindu 0.5 - (1,326) 0.5%
Muslim - (3,480) 0.8%
Other - (1,553) 0.2%
No religion - (36,518) 0.0%
Statistics for police recorded crime, also published in October 2018, show that hate crimes motivated by religion have increased by 40% from 2016/17 to 2017/18, representing the largest percentage increase of all hate crime strands (comprising race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender). The 2017/18 police statistics were the first to reflect the mandatory break down of hate crime reporting by perceived religion, and provided a breakdown based on the targeted religion of victims of religiously motivated hate crimes . They show that 52% of religiously-motivated hate crimes recorded by the police comprised anti-Muslim hostility.
The full breakdown of police recorded hate crime is as follows:
Buddhist - (19) 0%
Christian - (264) 5%
Hindu - (58) 1%
Jewish - (672) 12%
Muslim - (2,965) 52%
Sikh - (117) 2%
Other - (311) 5%
No religion - (237) 4%
Unknown - (1,174) 21%
Total number of targeted religions 5,817
Total number of offences 5,680
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 Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the suicide bombing resulting in the death of 19 Sikhs in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in July, whether they intend to offer asylum in the UK to the families of those who were killed.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There is no provision in the Immigration Rules for people to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum. Those who need international protection should claim in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
Our resettlement schemes offer a safe and legal route to the UK for the most vulnerable refugees. Membership of a minority religion or group is not in itself one of the vulnerability criteria used to assess eligibility for resettlement but members of minority religions or groups may qualify under the established criteria.
Our assessment of the situation for Sikhs in Afghanistan is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on the Gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-country-policy-and-information-notes.
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.