Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of religious freedom in Mozambique; and if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in that country on religious freedom.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Article 54 of the Constitution of Mozambique provides for the right to practice religion freely and prohibits discrimination based on religion. This is generally upheld in practice but there have been some reports of Mozambican authorities not upholding the constitution. In May 2023, President Nyusi of Mozambique and I discussed UK support for the Government of Mozambique's response to IS-affiliated attacks carried out on civilians in Northern Mozambique. The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) around the world. We work multilaterally and bilaterally to promote FoRB, and it remains an important priority for our work in Africa.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the most significant factors affecting freedom of religion or belief under the (a) federal Government of Iraq and (b) Kurdistan Regional Government.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a longstanding priority for the UK and we are firmly committed to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, held a roundtable with religious leaders during his visit to Iraq in February 2023, in which he heard from them directly about factors affecting their communities, including militia presence, the legacy of conflict, exclusion and sectarianism and lack of legal protection. We frequently raise these with the Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government, calling for greater protection and deeper inclusion in national and local government.
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support persecuted Christians in West Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. We monitor the situation for religious and non-religious communities globally, including in Africa, and work with governments, including with the Nigerian Government to promote FoRB. The UK is a founding member of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA), which is a government-level network committed to protecting and promoting FoRB, including raising awareness and conducting advocacy campaigns on prisoners of conscience. West African membership includes The Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for what reason freedom of religious belief was not included in the UK-Middle East and North Africa region development partnership summary, published in July 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, and reaffirmed the importance of upholding this right in the International Development White Paper, which was published last month. We monitor the situation for religious and non-religious communities globally, and work bilaterally and multilaterally to promote FoRB. Earlier this year, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa discussed interfaith dialogue when he met the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Minister also visited Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House, the interfaith complex housing the Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque, St Francis Church and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, and was clear that, "we must never be complacent on protecting freedom of religion and belief."
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they marked Red Wednesday on 22 November, with particular reference to the rise in religious persecution in Africa, and whether they noted the associated presence in London of two survivors of the terrorist attack on a church in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria, in which 40 people died, and their plea to the UK and Nigerian governments to work with one another in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Promoting the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities.
To mark Red Wednesday this year, FCDO buildings lit up in red, demonstrating our solidarity with Christians and all people across the world facing persecution because of their faith or beliefs.
The UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP, hosted a gathering of Parliamentarians, where they heard from Margaret Attah, a survivor of a terrorist attack on St Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Nigeria, and her husband, Dominic.
We continue to call for those who committed this attack to be brought to justice and held to account.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of the persecution of Christians in Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. We monitor the situation for religious and non-religious communities globally and recognise the persecution of Christians and other groups on account of their faith or beliefs, including in Africa. We work multilaterally and bilaterally to promote FoRB, and it remains an important priority for our work in Africa. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, the Honourable member for Congleton, plays an active role in supporting this work and spoke at the launch of Aid to the Church in Need's Africa focussed report in Parliament on 24 October.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to persecuted Christians in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcomed the progress made by the Sudanese transitional government from 2019 to 2021, which included decriminalising apostasy, declaring Christmas a national holiday and lifting public order laws that disproportionately affected Christian women. However, we are aware that these significant steps taken to improve religious freedom have stalled since 2021. In May this year, following the outbreak of conflict in April, we announced £21.7 million in humanitarian assistance for Sudan, part of a £143 million package of aid for East Africa. This includes support to protection activities for vulnerable people affected by the conflict. The UK continues to fund and support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that provides a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations.
Asked by: Baroness Janke (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel to protect the freedom of worship and property of Palestinian Muslims in occupied Hebron, in view of the closure of the Ibrahimi mosque to Muslims for two days for Jewish Passover activities during Ramadan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises issues of religious freedom with the Israeli Government. We continue to call on all sides to ensure those of all faiths in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are able to practise their faiths in peace and security. We engage the Israeli authorities to ensure access to the holy sites for Palestinians across the OPTs. As set out in the House of Commons on 24 April by Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for Development and Africa, we welcome Israel's decision to prevent non-Muslims from visiting al-Aqsa mosque during the final days of Ramadan, which we regard as an important de-escalatory act.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the closure of churches in Algeria.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all in Algeria. We engage regularly with groups from different faiths to understand their circumstances and any challenges they may face. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP, raised the ability of religious minorities to freely practice their faith with the Algerian authorities during her visit to Algiers in September 2022. The Minister for North Africa, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised church closures when he met the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs in June 2022 and also with the Algerian Ambassador to the UK in March 2023.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Nigerian High Commission on (a) religious tension and violence in Nigeria and (b) whether it should be categorised as religious persecution or criminality.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government condemns all violence against civilians in Nigeria. The root causes of conflict are complex. Religious identity can be a factor, and competition over land and resources, historical grievances, violent extremism, and criminality are also important drivers of conflict.
FCDO officials regularly meet the Nigerian High Commission. Former Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, raised religious identity and violence with the Nigerian High Commissioner in July 2021.
We welcomed the pledge from the High Commissioner at the Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief to uphold Nigeria's constitutional right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.