UK policy downplays human rights abuses in Sri Lanka – British MP

Photograph: @FreeFromTorture

UK Foreign Office policy “significantly” downplays the scale of human rights abuses and torture in Sri Lanka, said British parliamentarian Joan Ryan at the side-lines of the Labour party conference on Monday.

Speaking at an event hosted by Freedom From Torture, Ms Ryan went on to note that current treatment of refugees “undermines our legal obligations as well as government’s own commitments”.

She was joined by Lord Alf Dubs and Survivors Speak OUT member Jonathan at the event, which discussed the disbelief of torture in asylum claims.

See more coverage from Freedom From Torture here.

Add new comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.
  • You can embed media items (using the <drupal-media> tag).

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

link button