To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions has he had with his counterpart in Pakistan on the effect of blasphemy laws on minority communities in Pakistan.
Answered on
26 April 2018
The FCO remains deeply concerned by the misuse of the blasphemy laws and the treatment of religious minority communities in Pakistan.
We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities and misuse of the blasphemy laws with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. During my most recent visit to Pakistan in November 2017, I discussed the treatment of religious minorities, including discrimination against the Ahmadiyya and Christian communities, with the Ministry of Human Rights. My colleague, the Minister of State for Commonwealth and the UN, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised the issue of freedom of religion and belief with Pakistan’s Interior Minister in February 2018.