Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice regarding state responsibility to prevent and punish mass atrocity crimes, what assessment have they made of a “serious risk” of genocide in (1) Xinjiang, China, (2) Tigray, Ethiopia, and (3) Myanmar.

It is the long-standing policy of the British Government that any judgment as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. It should be decided after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible judicial process. We seek an end to all violations of international law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

We are seriously concerned about the gross violations of human rights in Xinjiang and atrocities in Ethiopia and Myanmar. We are taking action in all three situations including taking steps to hold the Government of Myanmar accountable though the UN, where we coordinated a joint statement on 26 November acknowledging the risk of mass atrocities in Myanmar which called for an immediate end to the violence; undertaking diplomatic and programmatic efforts to enable a resolution to the conflict and build lasting peace in Ethiopia; and imposing sanctions, including against senior Chinese Government officials and the regime in Myanmar.