The English and Welsh bishops have urged the government to provide evidence that it is overhauling its approach to international religious freedom, following the appointment of the first ever religious freedom envoy, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.
In a statement to The Tablet, a spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales welcomed Lord Ahmad’s “assertion” that religious freedom is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), but said the FCO “needs to show clear evidence of how it is taking practical steps to promote this fundamental human right”.
The spokesman said: “There needs to be public reporting and careful scrutiny of who representatives of the UK government are meeting, what trade deals are being sought and agreed, appropriate resourcing for religious freedom initiatives, along with increased training for diplomats and other officials. This would offer the necessary evidence that the government’s actions are in line with their public claims about … protection of freedom of religion or belief across the world.”
Last week, in a submission to the House of Commons inquiry on Promoting Human Rights Around the World, the Bishops’ Conference said the FCO, like the US State Department, should produce an annual international religious freedom report, “particularly in human rights priority countries”. “Strong religious literacy of ministers, ambassadors and diplomats is one of the most important requirements for effectively promoting freedom of religion or belief,” they said.
But in an interview with The Tablet, Lord Ahmad, who was appointed as special envoy on freedom of religion or belief on 4 July, stopped short of agreeing to the appeal from the bishops, pointing instead to the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy reports, and its diplomatic network to defend human rights and promote democracy around the world. “In essence we already fulfil that criteria, and we regard it as an important part of identifying priority countries,” he said. “[But] I’ll certainly be keen regularly to update colleagues in Parliament and beyond.”
In the US, the Commission on International Religious Freedom makes recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and Congress. Its annual report identifies countries of particular concern and its 2018 report names 16 “Tier 1” countries, led by Myanmar, CAR and China, and 12 “Tier 2” countries that include Egypt, India, Cuba and Turkey.
The bishops added: “Adopting a similar system may facilitate better examination of country-level activity and strengthen the UK’s work in this area. We therefore recommend that the [FCO] explores options for periodically publishing a summary of contact between diplomatic posts and faith communities particularly in human rights priority countries.”
They said that it was “encouraging” that the FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Annual Report 2016 identified religious freedom as a “human rights priority” but they went on: “However, this commitment must be underpinned by practical action in order to ensure that the UK’s foreign policy makes a genuine difference for the millions of people who are suffering because of their faith.”
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