Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Government of Sri Lanka on the ongoing detention of young poet and teacher, Ahnaf Jazeem.

The UK Government remains concerned at the ongoing detention of Ahnaf Jazeem under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). On 7 June, the UK's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and International Ambassador for Human Rights issued a joint statement with European partners calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to release Ahnaf Jazeem or uphold his right to a fair trial. We also highlighted our concerns in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 22 June, and have raised the case privately with the government of Sri Lanka. We continue to call on the government to replace the PTA with human rights compliant counter terrorism legislation.