FCO Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns responded to the House of Lords debate (16 July), saying “Freedom of religion or belief and the right to hold no belief is a key human right. It is under attack in almost every corner of the globe… The ongoing assault on freedom of religion or belief is absolutely unacceptable.”
She continued “Freedom of religion or belief is not just an optional extra, or nice to have; it is the key human right. It allows each citizen to follow their conscience in the way they see fit. As this Government made clear in our manifesto: ‘We will stand up for the freedom of people of all religions—and non-religious people—to practise their beliefs in peace and safety’. We are committed to defending the full right exactly as set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“Quite apart from any legal or moral obligation, we promote religious freedom as essential to our social, cultural and economic development. That is why this Government have made freedom of religion and belief a priority, not just in the FCO but across government. It is enshrined in international law, it makes social sense and it is morally right.”
Baroness Anelay outlined various government responses, and added “I also want us as a Government to focus even more strongly on making freedom of religion or belief part of the answer to extremism. Where freedom of religion is protected, extremist ideologies are much less likely to take root. I want us to continue our focus on supporting the right of persecuted Christians, as well as those of all religions and none, to be able to stay in the Middle East, the region of their birth.”
“Over the coming months, we will continue to deepen our already strong engagement with academics, think tanks, NGOs, faith representatives and parliamentarians on how we may best develop our policies to support religious minorities in the Middle East. I was delighted to meet members of the APPG on International Religious Freedom or Belief recently, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them as we further develop our policies.”
