Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Fiona Bruce

3rd reading
Friday 17th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I am really grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) for promoting the Bill, which the Government are pleased to support. It is a pleasure to set out today why the Bill is so important in cementing and supporting our long-standing commitment to freedom of religion or belief—FORB, as it is known for short. I thank hon. Members who have contributed to this debate, and indeed to so many before.

The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), mentioned the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon); he found me yesterday to give me his apologies for not being here today. She is right that we all miss his voice in this important debate.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton set out, the Bill will make the role of the special envoy for freedom of religion or belief statutory. Establishing the role permanently and in perpetuity was a recommendation in the Bishop of Truro’s 2019 independent review of the work of the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office on freedom of religion or belief, and the implementation of that recommendation was a manifesto commitment for the Conservatives in 2019.

This Bill will ensure that the special envoy has clearly defined duties, that they will report to the Prime Minister on their work and that a Minister of the Crown must provide resources for the special envoy to carry out their functions. It reinforces the Government’s long-standing commitment to FORB for all, which will support us in continuing to embed freedom of religion or belief within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Perhaps most significantly, it will ensure that the positive work being undertaken by today’s special envoy in this human rights priority area will be continued by future role holders.

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton, the current special envoy, for all the work she does to promote and protect FORB globally. She recently concluded her second term as chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. This was the first time in the organisation’s history that a chair was requested to serve a second term, which is testament to her dedication to the role.

As chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, our special envoy established a scheme to raise awareness of a different prisoner of conscience every month. The scheme has championed the cases of individuals belonging to a range of religious and belief communities, and in three cases individuals were subsequently released.

[Fiona Bruce]

I hesitate to correct the Minister but, just for the record, an additional prisoner of conscience was released very recently, which is why I referred to four, not three.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My hon. Friend continues to demonstrate both why her role is important and why her indomitable presence in the role is of such value to all those who need to be championed.

Trial of Jimmy Lai

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Fiona Bruce

Monday 18th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Jimmy Lai has been an extraordinary champion of free speech, which he chose to continue, despite the changing landscape in Hong Kong. We continue to support people across the piece, many of whom have come to the UK for sanctuary, to be able to be able to speak out and use our freedom of press to share their concerns and highlight the abuses they are seeing.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

I join the calls for Jimmy Lai’s release. He is a devout Catholic, and his faith motivates his courageous campaigning for democracy in Hong Kong. After the sustained dismantling in Hong Kong of freedoms of expression, of association, of the press, of judicial independence and others, does the Minister share my concerns that the threats to freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong are now very real? If she does not, will she please read “Sell Out My Soul: The Impending Threats to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Hong Kong”, the new report by Hong Kong Watch?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My hon. Friend continues in her role to be an extraordinary champion for freedom of religion or belief, and I absolutely agree with her. We continue, of course, to monitor freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong through our regular six-monthly reports to Parliament and through interactions with local faith leaders. The latest report, published on 19 September, noted that:

“Religious practice is generally not restricted,”

with a variety of

“religious practices coexisting across the territory.”

She is absolutely right: the strength that Jimmy Lai seeks and finds through his faith is extraordinary and it will help him in this very difficult time.

Persecution of Buddhists: Tibet

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Fiona Bruce

Thursday 14th December 2023 Westminster Hall

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman, and he was generous in his description of that potential further abuse of Buddhists’ freedom of religion.

The special rapporteurs warned that such programmes would lead to “situations of forced labour”, and they have suggested that “hundreds of thousands” of Tibetans have been transferred from work in the rural sector to these new jobs through this process. These amount to systematic human rights violations against Tibetan Buddhists and are part of the Chinese authorities’ efforts to erase the Tibetan identity and to assimilate Tibetans into the majority Han culture. My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton set out in stark clarity the shocking real-life impacts on Tibetans as the authorities try to erase their identity.

This Government are determined to promote and protect human rights, no matter where violations or abuses occur. We have shown time and again that, when allegations are substantiated, we will speak out and hold China to account. We co-ordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet. Recent examples include the 8 November G7 Foreign Ministers statement, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton, and our item 4 statement at the UN Human Rights Council in September. In June 2022, the UK and 46 other countries joined in a statement at the UN Human Rights Council expressing deep concern about the human rights situation in Tibet and calling on the Chinese authorities to abide by their human rights obligations.

My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton expressed the frustration that many feel. Any multilateral statement is invariably less punchy than any single country statement would be.

[Fiona Bruce]

I accept that there is frustration about the type of words used, but there is also frustration about the proportion, the number of words used—or rather the lack of words used about Tibet.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My hon. Friend sets out her point clearly. As someone who has sat in many a multilateral session—the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) mentioned COP, which I led on two years ago—it is often a slow and tortuous process to reach a form of words that as many countries and voices can sign up to as possible. My hon. Friend’s point is well made, however, and we will continue to raise the matter. The past couple of years have been the first time this issue has been in those statements. We will continue to work on expanding them and on persuading with the force of the evidence other countries to accept the realities of what we see, so that they will be willing to be stronger in the multilateral statement that we can put out together. Her point is well made and well heard.

Hong Kong Pro-democracy Activists

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Fiona Bruce

Thursday 6th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Officials have regular conversations with allies and partners around the world. They work with Interpol to ensure that rules that need to be maintained are and to ensure that we can use international powers to protect those here from extra-territorial reach.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

This recent development is yet another example of China’s outrageous disregard of fundamental human rights and freedoms. One can hardly imagine how the decent, honourable and brave young man Nathan Law is feeling now, a young man I had the privilege of meeting in this place. He and others affected need to know that we are doing everything we can to defend their freedoms. I am sure our like-minded international partners feel the same. What is the UK doing to show leadership following this announcement, and to work with our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, call out this particular violation of their rights and freedoms, and hold China to its international obligations?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My hon. Friend is always a champion and a strong voice. I thank her for the support she gives to those who are feeling under great strain. Some challenges remain. We suspended our extradition agreement with Hong Kong in July 2020, but 13 countries have still not done so, despite the national security law being brought in. They include two European countries, Czech Republic and Portugal, and 11 others, including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and India. We continue to work closely with them to ask that they reconsider their position so that those who need to be able to maintain their freedom of expression in their countries can do so safely.

Chinese Consul General: Attack on Protesters in Manchester

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Fiona Bruce

Thursday 15th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

Those exercising their freedoms here in the UK should never feel threatened or intimidated by the actions of foreign states. Can the Minister confirm how she is working with ministerial colleagues and Government agencies to establish and address other threats to freedom of expression by foreign actors? Could she make particular reference to concerns about Confucius Institutes, which have been raised in this place a number of times?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I thank my hon. Friend for all her work as the Prime Minister’s envoy on freedom of religion or belief. Hers is an incredibly important voice that reaches across the world, setting out the UK’s absolute clarity on our values. We will continue to do that. I hope she will be pleased to see the human rights report published, as promised, at the beginning of the week. We continue set out how the UK is leading on that. We continue to look across the piece at all centres. The Prime Minister has set out more work for us to do to ensure that all those who are here under diplomatic authority follow the rules of the road that we set out clearly.