Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what effect the recent changes in the Yemeni government have had upon the case of Mr bin Haydara and the Bahá'í community in Yemen.

I am aware of this case and I have spoken with a representative from the Baha’i community in London about it. I also wrote to the Yemeni Foreign Minister on 29 December expressing our concern over Mr Hamed Kamal bin Haydara and that Yemen should comply with International legal obligations and asked that Mr Hamed Kamal bin Haydara and all other citizens are treated in line with the human rights principles set out in Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference. I also copied the letter to the Yemeni Prime Minister, Interior Minister, Human Rights Minister and the Head of the National Security Bureau. HM Ambassador also raised this case in Sana’a on 16 December. Due to the uncertain political situation in Yemen at the moment, it may be hard to make significant progress on this case. On 11 February, we suspended Embassy operations in Sana’a temporarily and have withdrawn diplomatic staff due to a deterioration in the security situation. We will continue to work internationally, where possible, to deliver our objectives in Yemen.