Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will designate Egypt as a country of concern in the next FCO annual report on human rights and democracy.

The Foreign and Commonwealth reviewed the use of the designation “countries of concern” earlier this year. We now highlight “human rights priority countries” that we wish to work positively with wherever possible to improve their human rights trajectory.

Our criteria in designating a human rights priority country is an evidence-based assessment. We utilise internationally respected indicators and indices, such as the UN Gender Inequality Index and the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, to form our assessments. Once we have the relevant data, we will take informed decisions as to which countries will be human rights priority countries in 2016.