Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the safety of minority Sikh, Hindu and Hazara Muslim communities in Afghanistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
UK Ministers and officials frequently raise the protection of religious minorities with Afghan counterparts. Most recently, on 2 June the Minister of State for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, spoke to Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar to offer condolences for the attack on 8 May on a school in a predominantly Hazara area of Kabul. British Embassy officials in Kabul regularly meet with representatives from religious minority groups to hear their concerns. We continue to make public condemnations about targeted killings, and violence against minorities and human rights advocates, calling for transparent investigations. Only a negotiated and inclusive settlement will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan. We continue to make clear to all sides that any political settlement must protect the progress made in the country, including protection for women and minority groups.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide in 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
2021 marks 26 years since the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which saw more than 8,000 mostly Muslim men and boys murdered, and over 20,000 women and children forcibly expelled from their homes. The UK remembers all victims and pays its respects to the survivors. The UK continues to fight for justice and an end to impunity: this year Radovan Karadzic, convicted in part for his role in the Srebrenica genocide, was transferred to the UK to serve his life sentence. HMG's commemorative activities include a video message from the Foreign Secretary, to be shown online as part of Remembering Srebrenica's programme of events, and a statement commemorating the anniversary. The FCDO hopes to host Remembering Srebrenica's in-person commemoration when COVID-19 restrictions allow. The British Embassy in Sarajevo, alongside its project funding for the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, will join commemorations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered night clinics for the vaccination of Muslims during Ramadan.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government and NHS England and NHS Improvement have been working closely with local vaccination providers and system partners to put arrangements in place to help support Muslims to receive their vaccination, particularly if they are invited during Ramadan.
We have ensured through key messaging from scholarly leaders and the British Islamic Medical Association that it is permissible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine while fasting during Ramadan. We have provided advice and reassurances on questions and concerns around vaccination and Ramadan and we are working closely with local authorities, charities, faith and community groups to ensure these messages are disseminated widely. Effort has been made to promote key messages in faith-based radio stations, TV channels and multi-lingual messages developed by clinical and faith leaders.
We have issued guidance to our local partners on actions they should consider with reference to the needs of their local Muslim population during Ramadan which includes:
- Extending vaccination sites opening hours during twilight hours in places with high Muslim populations;
- Supporting pop-up/roving/temporary vaccination sites in areas with a high Muslim population;
- Allowing greater flexibility in booking schedules for later appointments;
- Outreach into homes to support those who are housebound and for women; and
- Flexibility to vaccinate where needed across Muslim groups, such as vaccinating members of multi-generational households on single visits.
We have been working closely with our system partners to support these actions and many are already being implemented. Additionally, we have also been supporting the organisation of women’s only vaccine clinics.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are they putting in place for COVID-19 vaccinations for Muslims during Ramadan
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government and NHS England and NHS Improvement have been working closely with local vaccination providers and system partners to put arrangements in place to help support Muslims to receive their vaccination, particularly if they are invited during Ramadan.
We have ensured through key messaging from scholarly leaders and the British Islamic Medical Association that it is permissible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine while fasting during Ramadan. We have provided advice and reassurances on questions and concerns around vaccination and Ramadan and we are working closely with local authorities, charities, faith and community groups to ensure these messages are disseminated widely. Effort has been made to promote key messages in faith-based radio stations, TV channels and multi-lingual messages developed by clinical and faith leaders.
We have issued guidance to our local partners on actions they should consider with reference to the needs of their local Muslim population during Ramadan which includes:
- Extending vaccination sites opening hours during twilight hours in places with high Muslim populations;
- Supporting pop-up/roving/temporary vaccination sites in areas with a high Muslim population;
- Allowing greater flexibility in booking schedules for later appointments;
- Outreach into homes to support those who are housebound and for women; and
- Flexibility to vaccinate where needed across Muslim groups, such as vaccinating members of multi-generational households on single visits.
We have been working closely with our system partners to support these actions and many are already being implemented. Additionally, we have also been supporting the organisation of women’s only vaccine clinics.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department took to mark Islamophobia Awareness month in November 2020.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government notes Islamophobia Awareness Month but takes the view that combatting Islamophobia is not a time-limited task and such thinking and behaviour should be tackled whenever it occurs. For that reason we continue to work closely with Muslim communities to tackle hate against them, including understanding issues and trends. This includes supporting Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with just over £2.8m distributed over the last five years to monitor, combat and raise awareness of anti-Muslim hatred.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that Muslim and Christian minorities are being persecuted in India, and (2) that such persecution has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic following accusations that those minorities had spread COVID-19; and what discussions they have had with the government of India about (a) the reported marginalisation of the Dalit community, in particular Dalit sanitation workers, and (b) the level of poverty among religious minority groups in that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK continuously assesses the human rights situation in India. We oppose discrimination against minorities because of caste, religion or belief. I speak regularly to my opposite number in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and the Indian High Commissioner in the UK, and raise concerns where we have them.
The British High Commission in New Delhi regularly meets minority representatives and runs projects promoting minority rights. In 2016-18, we funded a project in Uttar Pradesh empowering 400 Dalit human rights defenders to challenge discrimination and violence against Dalit women. Over the last 3 years, we have worked with local NGOs to bring together young people of diverse faiths to work together on social action projects to promote a culture of inter-faith tolerance.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the diversity of the members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in terms of (1) ethnicity, and (2) religion; and what assessment they have made of the value that would be added to the credibility and effectiveness of the EHRC by addressing any deficit in the diversity of the organisation in that regard.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Minister for Women and Equalities has recently announced five appointments to the board of the EHRC, to take effect from 1 December 2020. With these appointments, the EHRC board will have four permanent members, out of 14, from minority ethnic backgrounds. This exceeds the government’s aim for 14% of all public appointments to come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2022.
One member of the EHRC board identifies as Muslim, seven as Christian, two as having no religion and four prefer not to say.
The government is committed to maintaining diversity of appointments to the EHRC board.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are (1) Black, or (2) Muslim, and what steps (a) they, and (b) the EHRC, plan to take to improve ethnic and religious diversity on the EHRC.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Minister for Women and Equalities has recently announced five appointments to the board of the EHRC, to take effect from 1 December 2020. With these appointments, the EHRC board will have four permanent members, out of 14, from minority ethnic backgrounds, including one black commissioner. This exceeds the government’s commitment and ambition for 14% of all public appointments to come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2022. At the moment, one member of the EHRC board identifies as Muslim.
The government is committed to maintaining diversity of appointments to the EHRC board.
At executive levels the EHRC, as an independent body, makes its own operational decisions about staff appointments.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that Uighur Muslim women have been subjected to forced abortions and womb removals, (2) that Uighur children are being separated from their parents and placed in orphanages, and (3) of the treatment of those children in such orphanages, in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are deeply concerned by reports of suppression of birth rates and the mistreatment of Uyghur children in China, including reports of children being forcibly separated from their parents and placed in state run institutions. As the Minister for Asia set out during an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on 9 September, we are seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. On 25 September, at the UN Human Rights Council, I also raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including credible reports of forced labour and forced birth control in the UK's 'Item 4' national statement. It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities' own figures show a drastic decline in birth rates in Xinjiang. These reports add to the growing body of evidence about serious and widespread human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. We continue to raise our concerns at the UN, and directly with China.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle misogyny and racism experienced by Muslim women.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This government recognises the discrimination and intolerance faced by Muslim communities. We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted.
The Government has taken steps to combat anti-Muslim Hatred through supporting Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with just over £2.8m between 2016 and 2020 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred.
In addition, the Places of Worship protective security funding scheme, which provides security measures for mosques and other places of worship, has been allocated £3.2m for 2020-21, double what was awarded last year.
We also funded a national public awareness hate crime campaign in 2018 and 2019 which includes a specific example of anti-Muslim hatred to make clear the Government’s position that such incidents are unacceptable and are a crime.
The Home Office have also funded specific locally targeted projects including through the Building Stronger Britain Together programme tackling both the far right and perceptions of Islamophobia