Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Cunningham Excerpts

Tuesday 24th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Ind)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with his Bangladeshi counterpart on the protection of human rights in that country.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

7. What representations he has made to the Government of Bangladesh on violence towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in that country.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Swire]

Like all those in this House, I was absolutely appalled by the senseless murders of the LGBT activists Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Tonoy, and we call on the Bangladeshi Government to bring those responsible for the killings to justice. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Extremist-related murders of members of minority religious groups and those whose views and lifestyles are contrary to Islam have increased in Bangladesh since February 2015, and we are discussing this regularly with the Government of that country.

[Alex Cunningham]

The Minister has said that he has talked to the Bangladeshi Government, but does he really think that that Government are taking sufficient steps to tackle the issue of violence against LGBT people?

[Mr Swire]

Clearly I do not. We have a certain amount of leverage in Bangladesh—we are the largest grant aid donor, giving £162 million in 2015-16—so our voice has some influence there. In the past year our human rights and democracy programme has provided safety training for bloggers, and we have also funded a project promoting the rights of LGBT groups in Bangladesh, but there is a huge amount more to do. We are not shy of pushing the Government of Bangladesh in the right direction, but sometimes it takes a little bit of time and persuasion.[Official Report, 26 May 2016, Vol. 611, c. 1MC.]