Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the right to freedom of religion in that country.

The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities. In July, the Foreign Secretary and I expressed concern about the situation in Bangladesh and called for all sides to work together to end the violence. We support the independent fact-finding mission by the United Nations to identify human rights violations in Bangladesh.