Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Laos about (a) the case of Pastor Sompong Supatto and (b) freedom of religion.

We regularly raise human rights concerns with the Lao government, including adherence to their international human rights commitments which protect freedom of religion and belief. We are aware of several cases of Christians being arrested for worshipping, including the case of Pastor Sompong Supatto. Laos is currently undergoing its UN Universal Periodic Review, a UN Human Rights Council led review of its human rights record. We submitted an advance question to the Review on freedom of religion. The annual EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue is scheduled for October, and we expect freedom of religion and individual cases to be raised. We will continue to work with the EU and other like-minded partners to raise our concerns about religious freedom with the Lao government.