Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support Christians at risk of religious persecution in countries around the world.

As I stated in my [Minister Wheeeler] answer of 21 January, the persecution of Christians, and indeed individuals of all faiths or beliefs, remains of profound concern to us. The NGO Open Doors estimate that 260 [updated figure from latest report] million Christians experience high or extreme persecution around the world. The scale of this persecution prompted the former Foreign Secretary to ask the Bishop of Truro to examine how the British Government could better support the plight of persecuted Christians around the world.

As you know Bishop Philip published a hard-hitting report with 22 ambitious recommendations which we have accepted in full. Only two of the 22 recommendations are Christian specific, with the others focussing on FoRB for all. Work is ongoing to implement the recommendations in a way that will bring real improvements in the lives of those persecuted because of their faith or belief. 10 recommendations have already been implemented, or are in the process of being implemented. The work on the Truro recommendations sits within our strong commitment to stand up for those persecuted on account of their religion or belief all over the globe. We have encouraged our diplomatic missions to consider what they can do in response to the Review, and to use it as a lever to engage their host governments where human rights violations and abuses relating to freedom of religion or belief are of concern.