Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Yemeni government on treatment of the Jewish community in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The conflict and temporary suspension of Embassy operations in Sana’a in February 2015 has hampered our ability to pursue human rights work. The UK has previously lobbied the Yemeni Government – both bilaterally and through the Human Rights Council – on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance with human rights law with all sides to the conflict and to find a political solution to the conflict, which will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment at the last Human Rights Council session to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.