Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Africa of 9 January 2018, on human rights, Official Report, col. 162, what representations his Department has made to the Government of Bangladesh on the disappearance of its political opponents in that country.

​I am deeply concerned by allegations of enforced disappearances, including of political opponents of the Government, in Bangladesh. I raised specific human rights cases with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on 30 November 2017, and our concerns regarding disappearances with Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque on 2 November 2017. Lord Ahmad, FCO Minister for the Commonwealth and the UN, raised our human rights concerns, including enforced disappearances, with senior leaders in the Government of Bangladesh during his visit to Bangladesh from 7 to 10 August.

Bangladesh remains an FCO Human Rights Priority Country. Ministers, and our High Commission in Dhaka, will continue to engage the Government of Bangladesh on the full range of our concerns, including enforced disappearances.