Philippines: Prisons

(asked on 27th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of the Philippines on (a) reported human rights abuses in their prison system which houses British nationals and relatives of Filipinos living in the UK and (b) the release of prisoners during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 4th May 2020

We remain concerned about allegations of human rights abuses in the Philippine prison system. The British Embassy in Manila regularly raises our concerns, alongside other human rights issues, with relevant stakeholders in the Philippines. We understand that the Philippine Bureau of Jail Management and Penology have yet to reach a decision on the release of inmates from the prison system in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the Bureau of Immigration did notify the British Embassy on 29 April that 2 British detainees have been fast tracked for deportation. We are working with the Philippines authorities to understand the implications of this decision. The airlines that would normally carry deportees are not operating due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

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