Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Bangladeshi counterpart on allegations of human rights abuses in that country since January 2014.

We take human rights very seriously and follow the situation in Bangladesh closely, raising concerns where there are credible allegations. We welcome the Bangladesh government's assurances that they are committed to protecting human rights and recognise the positive progress that has been made across a range of social development indicators.

However, allegations of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and human rights abuses are deeply concerning. We regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Bangladesh government. The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi last raised reports of extrajudicial killings and disappearances with the Bangladesh High Commissioner on 13 May. During Bangladesh's 2nd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council last year we also recommended that the Government of Bangladesh thoroughly and impartially investigate and, if credible evidence emerges, prosecute all allegations of human rights violations.