Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the impact of the Bahraini legislation entitled Justice law for children and their protection from ill-treatment on preventing detention of children; what representations the Government plans to make to the government of Bahrain on (a) due process violations in respect of the detention of children in that country and (b) releasing children who have been detained; and what information his Department holds on the reported ongoing detention of six children in Beit Batelco in Bahrain since 27 December 2021.

On 1 February, the Public Prosecutor in Bahrain announced the detention of six children at a child protection centre following an assessment by a behavioural expert and referral to a judge in the Child Corrective Justice Court in accordance with the provisions of the Restorative Justice Law. We welcome the entry into force in August 2021 of the Restorative Justice Law for Children which specifically addresses Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and support Bahraini government efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.