Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department provides development assistance to human rights organisations helping LGBT people in Chechnya; and if he will make a statement.

​Officials from across Whitehall and in Russia continue to work closely with non-governmental organisations who are supporting the victims fleeing persecution in Chechnya. We continue to make our concerns clear to the Russian Government at a senior level; most recently I raised this with First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov in Moscow on 8 December. This is all in keeping with the UK's longstanding support for LGBT rights in Russia.