Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much United Kingdom aid has
been given to Pakistan in the last ten years; and what assessment
they have made of the extent to which this was used to support
persecuted minorities in that country.
(CB)
In asking my Question I should mention that I co-chair the
All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Pakistani Minorities.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development
(Baroness Sugg) (Con)
My Lords, in the past 10 years, the UK has given £2.6 billion in
aid to Pakistan, targeted towards the poorest and most excluded,
who are often from minorities. We promote minority rights from
grass roots to the highest levels of government. UK aid to
Pakistan is declining but continues to focus on the poorest.
Since 2011, UK aid has supported primary education for 10 million
children, skills training for almost 250,000 people, and
microfinance loans for 6.6 million people.
I thank the Minister for that reply and welcome her to her new
responsibilities. Is she able to intervene on behalf of Shagufta
Kauser, an illiterate woman from one of Pakistan’s beleaguered
minorities, who now occupies Asia Bibi’s cell in Multan and who,
like her, has been sentenced to death for allegedly sending
blasphemous texts in English? When two children are forced to
watch a lynch mob of 1,200 burn alive their parents; when no one
is brought to justice for the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti,
Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities; when 1,000 Hindu and
Christian girls are forcibly married and converted; and when
minorities are ghettoised into squalid colonies, which I have
visited, and forced to clean latrines and sweep streets, is it
not time that DfID re-examined its policy of refusing to
specifically direct any of the £383,000 that, on average, we give
every single day to Pakistan in aid for the alleviation of the
suffering and destitution of these desperate minorities?
I pay tribute to the noble Lord’s long-standing involvement in
this important issue. We remain deeply concerned by the misuse of
blasphemy laws and the treatment of minority religious
communities in Pakistan. We regularly raise these concerns with
the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. I share the noble
Lord’s desire to ensure that our international aid funding
reaches those who most need it. Currently, many Pakistanis are
reluctant to declare themselves members of religious minorities
because of fear of discrimination. We are working to ensure that
we understand where our aid is going. I can reassure the noble
Lord that we continually keep our programmes under review, and
where we can better prioritise resources we will do so.
(Lab)
My Lords, through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, ODA
money funds the CAPRI programme in Pakistan. While its aim is to
increase Pakistan’s capacity to investigate, detain and prosecute
suspected terrorists, its definition of terrorism is incredibly
wide. It has also resulted in torture and 195 death sentences.
Will the Minister ask her department to investigate whether the
CAPRI project, supported by the CSSF, could be supporting such
human rights abuses? Will she commit to publishing the overseas
security and justice assistance assessment that led to this
project being signed off by a Minister?
As the noble Lord will be aware, the Government oppose the death
penalty in all circumstances. We will continue to ensure that our
position on that is made clear in all our dealings with partner
Governments. I am afraid I am not aware of the specific project
that the noble Lord raises, but I will certainly go back to the
department and write to him in detail.
(LD)
My Lords, the white stripe on the Pakistan flag signifies the
rights of religious minorities, but today Pakistan has strayed a
long way from the ideals of its founder, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, and
its heinous blasphemy laws are feared with good reason by the
same minority groups he sought to protect. I ask the Minister, at
the same time as welcoming her to her new role: what safeguards
does DfID put in place to ensure that religious minorities are,
at the very least, not discriminated against in accessing and
benefiting from DfID programmes?
My Lords, I mentioned our response to the blasphemy laws in a
previous answer. We must continue to stand up for human rights
and freedom of religion and belief. The Prime Minister has
appointed my noble friend Lord Ahmad as special envoy on the
issue. He raises it regularly, and did so recently in February.
(CB)
My Lords, the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, particularly
Christians, infringes not only the UN declaration of human rights
but, ironically, also the clear teachings of the Koran, which
says that the people of the book—that is, Christians and
Jews—should be allowed to practise their religion unhindered.
Despite this, members of the Christian community have been
murdered and placed on death row for years on end for professing
their faith, and it is now reported that some Christian women and
young girls are being sold into slavery in China and used for the
harvesting of organs. With that in mind, does the Minister agree
that we should now look to the targeting of our aid and moving
for Pakistan to be expelled, not for the first time, from the
Commonwealth?
My Lords, I certainly agree that we need to ensure that our
international aid reaches those people who need it most. To that
end, the Foreign Secretary has commissioned an independent report
to fully understand the scope of the issue, and the right
reverend Prelate the will be writing
recommendations on how we can better address this issue.
(Con)
My Lords, I understood that human rights practice in the country
in question was a factor in the allocation of aid from us. I
think it is clear that in Pakistan freedom of religion means that
if you have a certain faith you are apt to face the death
penalty, which does not strike me as in conformity with human
rights or freedom of religion.
