July 28, 2010 by sks
QUESTION
Asked by Lord Hylton
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made, or will make, representations to the government of Syria to establish the fate of 400 persons recently arrested on suspicion of membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.[HL1594]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): Our officials are aware of these reports but have not been able to verify them. However, we are concerned about the human rights situation of the Syrian Kurds. It is a source of particular concern that so many Kurds are denied Syrian citizenship-300,000 out of 1.7 million.
My honourable friend Alistair Burt, the Minister of State for the Middle East, raised human rights privately with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem during his visit this month to Syria.
We have a firm and frank dialogue with Syria including on human rights issues. We also discuss these issues regularly with EU partners.
Hansard
27 July 2010
