Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to propose the establishment of an international day commemorating the victims and survivors of religious persecution to be held annually on 3 August.

The British Government believes that the custom of commemorating the International Day of Religious Freedom on 27 October is becoming increasingly well established, and provides a suitable focus for marking this universal human right. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office actively encourages its diplomatic network to mark this day where local conditions allow. The Government therefore has no plans to support moves to establish an official United Nations Day on this theme.