Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking (a) in Mauritania and (b) internationally to tackle slavery.

The British Government continues to make representations on human rights concerns at the highest levels with the Mauritanian government. Most recently, the Head of the British Office in Nouakchott raised the issue of slavery alongside EU Heads of Mission in a meeting with the Mauritanian Prime Minister and eight other ministers on 9 December 2016.

The British Government also works internationally to tackle slavery. In December 2016, Baroness Anelay of St Johns met the UN Special Rapporteur on Modern Slavery, Ms Urmila Bhoola, and Mauritanian anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid to discuss concerns about slavery in Mauritania.