Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the attack on the 98th Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Panchagarh district.

The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Our support in Bangladesh aims to ensure that the rights of religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyya community, are respected, and that these communities are protected from discrimination. At the time of the attack, the previous UK Government raised the importance of FoRB with the former Bangladesh Government. In November 2024, I visited Bangladesh and discussed the importance of the protection of religious minorities with Chief Adviser Yunus. The UK will continue to support FoRB through regular dialogue with the Interim Government of Bangladesh and through our development programme funding.