Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Afghan counterpart on the recent attacks on the Sikh community in that country.
We strongly condemn the attack on a Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul on 25 March. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia with responsibility for human rights and Her Majesty's Ambassador to Kabul have both condemned the attack. The UK continues to urge the Government of Afghanistan to ensure the rights of all ethnic and religious groups are protected, in line with the Afghan constitution.
At the Universal Periodic Review of Afghanistan at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019, the UK recommended that the Afghan Government establish an independent mechanism to strengthen security protection for all religious and ethnic minorities.
We will continue to engage with organisations and individuals which represent the Afghan Sikh and Hindu community, in Afghanistan and the UK. This helps us to maintain a full understanding of the challenges faced by their communities.