Naomi Long MP (Belfast East) (Alliance): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the situation of religious minorities in India following the recent elections.
Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP (East Devon) (Con): Our High Commissioner to New Delhi, Sir James Bevan, met the new Indian Minister for Minorities, Mrs Najma Heptulla, on 16 June and discussed issues facing minority communities in India. Our High Commission in New Delhi also maintains a regular dialogue with officials in India’s national human rights institutions, including the Minorities Commission, and with the relevant State level authorities. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with the new Indian government about minority rights issues.
We also support religious and other minorities in India through the Department for International Development’s programme in India which helps to promote equal treatment and access to services for the most disadvantaged communities.
Naomi Long MP (Belfast East) (Alliance): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the draft religious conversion law proposed by the government of Burma.
Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP (East Devon) (Con): The Government has voiced our strong concerns over proposed legislation on religious conversion, both with members of the Burmese government and with Burmese parliamentarians. If enacted, this law would harm religious tolerance and respect for diversity in Burma, and contravene international standards such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During my visit in January, I delivered a speech in which I called for greater religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue. We continue to make clear that respect for freedom of religion and belief must be guaranteed.
John Glen MP (Salisbury) (Con): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Iranian government on the imprisonment of (a) Ebrahim Firouzi, (b) Shahin Lahooti, (c) Suroush Saraie and (d) Mohammad Roghangir.
Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood MP (Bournemouth East) (Con): We remain deeply concerned by the detention of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and by the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and to end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, most recently during our representations to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Iran on 31 October.
10 November
Gavin Shuker MP (Luton South) (Lab): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised the cases of Farshid Fathi and Alireza Seyyedian with his Iranian counterparts.
Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood MP (Bournemouth East) (Con): We have not raised these cases specifically with the Iranian Government. However, we remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith.