The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP
Foreign Secretary
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
4th November 2019
Dear Foreign Secretary,
I am write to you about the persecution of people of faith worldwide.
As you will be aware, Christians around the world are at particular risk of persecution ranging from discrimination to egregious violence on the basis of their faith. An Independent Review conducted by The Bishop of Truro, commissioned by your predecessor, outlined the global scale of this problem.
Open Doors, a global NGO committed to supporting persecuted Christians in over 60 countries, has made 3 recommendations for action the UK government should take in order to uphold religious freedom of worldwide.
The first is that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) should focus on the key countries on the Open Doors’ World Watch List (a list which outlines the 50 most dangerous countries in the world to live as a Christian) and work constructively with these countries – not simply pointing out their failures. If the FCO were to invest the necessary resources into working alongside governments and civil servants in these countries, real change could be effected.
The second call is for the role of the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief to be expanded. For example, the Special Envoy should be involved in discussions with the Department for International Trade so that freedom of religion or belief is part of any future trade deals. Additionally, in light of the Independent Review, an individual should be appointed within the Special Envoy’s team with responsibility for tackling the persecution of Christians specifically.
The third call is for the FCO and the Department for International Development to better involve local communities in their work. For example, DfID could use local faith actors as a resource in its development work. Local faith actors provide spiritual as well as social and financial capital to communities – therefore offering distinct support to victims of religious persecution – and they often remain in places too dangerous for aid agencies to remain.
I hope you will show leadership on human rights and commit to these three calls as means of starting to meaningfully address the dangerous situation faced by people of faith around the world.
Yours sincerely,
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