Oral Answers to Questions

Wendy Chamberlain Excerpts

Tuesday 12th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

We are doing everything we can to help the hostages to whom she referred and to ensure that they come home. We do that through negotiations, not least in Qatar, and through the overflights, which I referred to earlier. The hon. Lady may rest assured that the Government take precisely the same view as her on what should be achieved.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

14. Whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in the Philippines on the case of Leila De Lima.

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

We welcome the release of Leila De Lima on bail, which is a positive step for human rights and the rule of law. The UK’s ambassador has repeatedly raised this case with the Philippines Government, and visited her during her detention.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

I agree that it is good news that Senator De Lima has been released on bail after nearly seven years of detention. What representations are the Government making to their counterparts in the Philippines, via the ambassador, about resolving all the other charges against her, which are believed to stem from her vocal opposition to thousands of extrajudicial killings in connection with former President Duterte’s war on drugs, and about a meaningful investigation into those killings?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The UK Government regularly engage with the Government of the Philippines on the full range of our human rights concerns. We welcomed the 2020 UN Human Rights Council resolution, which proposed technical co-operation on human rights between the Government of the Philippines and the United Nations. The resolution resulted in a three-year UN joint programme, which commenced in 2021, to which the UK has contributed £400,000. We will continue to work alongside them.