Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of (a) respect for human rights and (b) the independence of the rule of law in Bangladesh in the past three months.
Answered by Seema Malhotra
I met Prime Minister Rahman on 17 February and reinforced the UK's commitment to working with the Government of Bangladesh to advance democratic, economic and social reforms. I welcomed the peaceful and credible parliamentary elections held earlier that month as an important step forward for the country and its people. The UK continues to encourage the Bangladeshi authorities to work towards a sustainable and inclusive political settlement in the interests of all Bangladeshis, and to ensure that the rights and voices of minority groups and civil society are recognised within that process.
Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
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 irregular migration to the UK.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are taking on the serious, hard work needed to tackle the global problem of irregular migration. We are getting ready to return the first set of small boat arrivals under our groundbreaking returns deal with France. We have signed a landmark agreement with Iraq to tackle illegal migration at source, and we have introduced the world’s first sanctions regime to target the people smuggling gangs and dismantle their funding and networks. Since coming to office, we’ve removed over 35,000 people with no right to be here, up 13 per cent year on year.