Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help tackle the digital persecution of Christians.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is no space for religious intolerance in pluralistic, modern societies. We are championing the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, working collaboratively with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith, and our programme funding.
The development and use of digital technology presents both opportunities and risks for the enjoyment of human rights, including FoRB. It is important that we champion the positive potential of technology, whilst taking action to mitigate risks. We do this by working with international partners and through multilateral fora including the United Nations and the Article 18 Alliance which has a workstream, co-chaired by the UK, focused on FoRB and Artificial Intelligence.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling the persecution of Christians across the world.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is no space for religious intolerance in pluralistic, modern societies. We are championing the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding. We will continue to recognise the issue of Christian persecution globally, alongside the persecution of other individuals on the basis of their religion or belief. The Special Envoy for FoRB met with European and US counterparts in the margins of the 58th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in March. We actively participate in the Article 18 Alliance - bringing together 38 Member States, 26 of whom are European, to discuss actions our nations can take so that together we can promote respect for FoRB worldwide. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials attended the Article 18 Alliance and International Contact Group meetings in Geneva in March.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to help prevent the religious persecution of Christians in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief. In November 2024, I visited Bangladesh and discussed the importance of the protection of religious minorities, including Christians, with Chief Adviser Yunus.
The UK is providing up to £27 million under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence. We support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and their report on the violations that occurred last year.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the creation of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Answered by James Cleverly
The UK remains committed to making progress towards a two-state solution. We support the objectives of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and continue to engage with the Alliance for Middle East Peace and Biden administration to discuss the Fund's development.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to help tackle religious persecution and gender based violence of Christian women in countries around the world.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all. We recognise that women and girls from religious minorities can often suffer because of both their gender and their faith. That is why we ensure our human rights policy work considers the intersectionality of human rights, including the importance of addressing the specific vulnerabilities experienced by women and girls from religious minority communities.
The UK is recognised as a global leader in tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all its forms, by pioneering approaches around the world that have shown that VAWG is preventable. In the DRC, a project with faith leaders and community action groups halved women's experience of intimate partner violence from 69% to 29%. Preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence remains a top priority for the FCDO. In November, the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, launched the Declaration of Humanity by faith and belief leaders which calls for the prevention of sexual violence in conflict and denounces the stigma faced by survivors, including by children born of rape. Through UK Aid Connect, FCDO has supported the Creid programme (managed by the Institute of Development Studies) to work with women from religious minorities in five countries in Africa and Asia to understand the problems they face and identify effective approaches to tackle these issues.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support and counsel persecuted Christian women who are stigmatised by sexual violence overseas.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all. We recognise that women and girls from religious minorities can often suffer because of both their gender and their faith. That is why we ensure our human rights policy work considers the intersectionality of human rights, including the importance of addressing the specific vulnerabilities experienced by women and girls from religious minority communities.
The UK is recognised as a global leader in tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all its forms, by pioneering approaches around the world that have shown that VAWG is preventable. In the DRC, a project with faith leaders and community action groups halved women's experience of intimate partner violence from 69% to 29%. Preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence remains a top priority for the FCDO. In November, Lord Ahmad launched the Declaration of Humanity by faith and belief leaders which calls for the prevention of sexual violence in conflict and denounces the stigma faced by survivors, including by children born of rape. Through UK Aid Connect, FCDO has supported the Creid programme (managed by the Institute of Development Studies) to work with women from religious minorities in five countries in Africa and Asia to understand the problems they face and identify effective approaches to tackle these issues.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of gender-specific religious persecution of women from religious minorities abroad.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all. We recognise that women and girls from religious minorities can often suffer because of both their gender and their faith. That is why we ensure our human rights policy work considers the intersectionality of human rights, including the importance of addressing the specific vulnerabilities experienced by women and girls from religious minority communities.
The UK is recognised as a global leader in tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all its forms, by pioneering approaches around the world that have shown that VAWG is preventable. In the DRC, a project with faith leaders and community action groups halved women's experience of intimate partner violence from 69% to 29%. Preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence remains a top priority for the FCDO. In November, the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, launched the Declaration of Humanity by faith and belief leaders which calls for the prevention of sexual violence in conflict and denounces the stigma faced by survivors, including by children born of rape. Through UK Aid Connect, FCDO has supported the Creid programme (managed by the Institute of Development Studies) to work with women from religious minorities in five countries in Africa and Asia to understand the problems they face and identify effective approaches to tackle these issues.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Answered by James Cleverly
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) is the best, and currently only, way to monitor and constrain Iran's nuclear programme. But Iran's continued systematic non-compliance with its JCPoA commitments is undermining the non-proliferation benefits of the deal and jeopardising our efforts to preserve it. In his call with President Rouhani on 10 March, the Prime Minister stressed that while the UK remains committed to making the JCPoA a success, Iran must stop all nuclear activity that breaches the terms of the deal and come back into compliance.
We are particularly concerned by Iran's announcement on 16 April that it has started uranium enrichment up to 60% using advanced centrifuges. As the E3 said in a statement on 14 April, the production of highly enriched uranium constitutes an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.
We continue to work with the parties to the JCPoA and the new US Administration to find a diplomatic way forward that realises the benefits of the deal, and call upon Iran not to take any further steps which violate its JCPoA commitments and make a return to mutual compliance harder to achieve.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether personal protective equipment has been imported in to the UK which is the result of forced labour in the Xinjaing province of China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government takes all allegations of modern slavery and forced labour extremely seriously. We expect suppliers to follow the highest legal and ethical standards and to carry out proper due diligence for all government contracts. We continue to urge all businesses involved in investing in Xinjiang, or with parts of their supply chains in Xinjiang, to conduct appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to support, any human rights violations or abuses.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential sanctions on the people responsible for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
On 6 July, the UK Government established the Global Human Rights sanctions regime. It is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated in the future, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. We will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.