(Strangford)
(DUP):...Given the importance of protecting FORB and
marking International Freedom of Religion or Belief Day, I want to
make five recommendations that might help in the significant
efforts being made to advance FORB. I will then
briefly discuss FORB issues in several countries in south Asia and
the middle east, namely Pakistan, India, Nepal, Turkey, Egypt and
Iran...
...Next, I will speak about the FORB situation in India. Despite Prime Minister Modi’s pledged
commitment to “complete freedom of faith”, since his election in
2014 there has been a significant increase in anti-minority
rhetoric and mob violence against Muslims and other minorities. Let
us be quite clear: I am here to speak for every religious minority,
as the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq), who
intervened earlier, knows. I am here to speak for all religious
minorities, wherever they may be. We have spoken about the Uyghur
Muslims in China; we will speak about the clear persecution of
Muslims in India. I want to speak up for those people as
well and ensure that the Indian Government are aware of their commitment
to international religious freedom through the UN. There have also
been hundreds of attacks on Christians.
Worryingly, at the end of July 2018, in Assam State,
the Indian Government effectively stripped 4
million people, mostly Muslims, of their citizenship, branding
them illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. How
annoying and frustrating is it to watch a democratic country
specifically targeting those of other religious beliefs? The
situation bears worrying similarities to the plight of the
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, who in 1982 also had their
citizenship removed and were labelled Bangladeshi before being
attacked by the Burmese military.
It is hard not to get emotional, strongly agitated and full of
angst about what is taking place across the world, because there
is so much happening. This debate is a chance to reiterate those
points, and others will do so. All this is very concerning, not
only for obvious reasons, but because violence and discrimination
could cause significant grievance among the 250 million-strong
non-Hindu population of India, leading to instability. Mob violence
has already increased significantly across India,
and in the past few months both ISIS and al-Qaeda have called
on India’s Muslim population—predicted to be the
second largest, if not the largest, in the world—to “take
revenge”. We have a difficult situation developing in that
country, and if the Indian Government do not start to do something
about it, we are in great trouble...
...We had the ISIS-inspired attack in Madhya Pradesh
in India, in which 10 people were killed.
For the benefit of both India and its potential for a
stable long-term relationship with the UK, we must take a stand
against growing human rights violations there. I hope that the
Minister can work with the Indian Government at least to make them
aware that we are concerned...
...Hopefully these recommendations can help make a difference for
religious or minority groups in countries such as
Pakistan, India, Nepal, Turkey, Egypt and Iran who are
being denied their right to FORB. The sheer volume of FORB
violations in those countries—and elsewhere, including the
UK—points us to the importance of International Freedom of
Religion or Belief Day, which necessarily gives us the
opportunity to come together and stand up for all those who are
suffering, all those who are attacked, and all those who have to
struggle and fight for something we take for granted. I come back
to Pakistan where, as the hon. Member for St Helens South and
Whiston knows, we went to church under police protection. By
comparison, here in the United Kingdom we at least have the
freedom to go to church and worship our God...
Ms (St Helens South and Whiston)
(Lab):...Before I finish I want to talk about refugees
from Myanmar. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
recently declared that Chin State in Myanmar is stable and secure
from a refugee perspective, and that it would begin to return
Chin refugees from India and Malaysia. The Chin Human
Rights Organisation has, however, produced a report detailing how
systematic violations of freedom of religious belief, including
killings, torture and other forms of cruel, inhumane and
degrading treatment, are still prevalent. Is the Minister willing
to ask the UNHCR to share the information on which it based the
conclusion that Chin State is stable and secure?
(Stirling)
(Con):...Open Doors’ report highlights the deteriorating
situations in Libya, Eritrea, India and Egypt. Countries where
there is extreme persecution are North Korea, Afghanistan,
Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq and Yemen, many of
which have been mentioned. For the 17th consecutive year, North
Korea has been named the most dangerous place in the world to be
a Christian, and sadly the situation in Afghanistan and Somalia
is in many ways just as critical...
(Henley) (Con):...I
was not suggesting that religious differences played no part in
the attacks, just that they are not the sole cause. We can
legitimately blame a number of other factors,
including the fact that the media misreport situations widely
across Nigeria. We can also blame rapid population growth: the
population of Nigeria is about 190 million at the moment, but the
World Bank predicts that by 2050—not long hence—it will be 400
million, making it the third most populous country in the world,
after India and China. In that situation
it is not surprising that tensions arise...
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