Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the prevalence of slavery in Mauritania.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain concerned about continued reports of slavery in Mauritania, and about the modest sentences handed down in the few successful prosecutions for slavery offences. We welcome the establishment of three courts with specific responsibility for slavery cases. We continue to monitor this topic closely. We regularly raise our concerns with the Mauritanian authorities in the UK and in Nouakchott, and meet human rights and anti-slavery campaigners to discuss the subject.