|PIC1|The British government has defended the way in which it has fought against religious repression abroad, after claims emerged in the House of Lords that it had lowered its priority as the Religious Freedom Panel had not met together for two years, reported the Church of England newspaper.

In particular, Parliamentary peers criticised the government in a debate regarding religious persecution in areas of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In these countries the levels of religious oppression has been extreme at times, with anti-conversion, sharia, as well as blasphemy laws pressing down religious minorities, and in particular Christians.

Lord Triesman, the British Foreign Office Minister commented that the Panel had not gathered together for twenty-four months since the priority of the Foreign Office has moved to efficiency as the UK held the EU presidency.

Triesman said, “We continue to condemn all instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith or belief, wherever they happen and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned. We urge all states to pursue laws and practices which foster tolerance and mutual respect and protect religious minorities from discrimination.”

|QUOTE|With regards to Sri Lanka, the Foreign Office Minister condemned the anti-conversion laws in Sri Lanka, and stated that the government was monitoring some Indian states where similar legislation was being adopted.

In an attempt to show the government’s activity on the issue, Triesman commented that the British government was “engaged” with Pakistan in efforts to repeal or modify the country’s blasphemy laws.

The government stated that its approach was to work in a bilateral method with governments where it believed problems existed.

|TOP|Recent years has seen various peers such as Lord Alton and Baroness Cox bring up religious freedom issues, such as ethnic cleansing of the largely Christian Karen and Karenni people in Burma. The Parliamentarians complained that the government had done next to nothing to ensure that the Burmese authorities’ actions were recognised as genocide.

Triesman concluded, “We are prepared to argue that whether it is hostility to Christianity, Islamaphobia or anti-Semitism makes no difference. It is a universal right that people should be able to pursue their religion with dignity and freedom, and we will argue that whatever the circumstances, whatever the faith, whatever the country.”