THE UK must do more to eradicate the systematic persecution and “truly repugnant” treatment of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan, bishops have told the Lords.
The Bishops of Guildford and Leicester were contributing to a debate within the House of Lords on Thursday, initiated by Lord Alton, on how UK aid is getting used to support minorities in Pakistan.
Introducing the subject, Lord Alton said that 3.72 per cent of the 230 million people in Pakistan were from religious-minority backgrounds. He referred to evidence, found by the APPG for Pakistani Minorities, of “discrimination and persecution against minorities, entrenched at school textbooks; stigmatisation in schools and colleges; and primitive and dismal conditions within the so-called colonies where Christians live, which are sometimes devoid of running water, sanitation and electricity”.
Lord Alton also spoke of “violent attacks, including murder; and the denial of comparable voting rights with other residents . . . the kidnapping of Hindu and Christian girls, with forced conversions, rape, and coercive marriages — all issues that British aid could, and will do more to, address.” The Ahmadi community had also been targeted, he said.
The Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, who’s vice-chair of the Pakistani Minorities APPG, told peers: “I fully support the suggestion that religious minorities must be explicitly included within the list of marginalised communities on the subject of the supply of UK aid.”
His diocese, he said, had partnered the diocese of Sialkot within the Majha region of Punjab. “There is absolute confidence that discrimination exists on all levels against religious minorities in Pakistan.” This was due partially to extremism, blasphemy laws, poverty, and lack of education — and “the continuing legacy of the caste system, which continuously leaves Christians and Hindus at the underside of the pile.”
Bishop Watson concluded: “UK aid should include religious minorities within the list of marginalised communities inside Pakistan”, and “a percentage of the help budget be put aside for minorities, using most of it on education and skilled training projects”.
The urgency of the situation was echoed by Lord Harries, a former Bishop of Oxford, who said: “Since 2006, the Pakistan parliament has provided about 6000 projects in a national poverty-reduction scheme. This progress is welcome, but none of those projects goal issues specifically facing Dalits, who’re floundering in a vicious cycle of poverty and lack of land, which forces them into that poorly paid employment where they may be exploited. . . There is a high level of suicides amongst this community as a result of this distressing economic situation.”
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, spoke of two issues raised with him by members of the big Pakistani-heritage community in Leicester: “the plight of Christians forced to work as gutter cleaners with no personal protective equipment”, and “the necessity for a small, secure, and legal route for persecuted minorities to come back to the UK”.
Fewer than two per cent of the population of Pakistan were Christian, but Christians accounted for greater than 80 per cent of the sewerage and street-cleaning workforce, he said, “where hazardous conditions and an absence of workplace health and safety regulations and protective equipment cause untold preventable accidents, illnesses, and deaths.
“The accounts of their working conditions are truly repugnant, made much more shocking by the proven fact that the federal government agencies advertise cleansing positions for Christians and other religious minorities only.”
On secure legal routes, he said: “I used to be approached by a bishop in Pakistan to ask if I’d help secure asylum for one in all his priests. The priest’s brother had been murdered and there was clear evidence to suggest that others within the family were at serious risk. But despite all my efforts, and indeed the intervention of . . . the Archbishop of Canterbury, we couldn’t secure a visa for the priest and his family.”
He concluded: “I dare to suggest that we’ve an ethical duty to supply such help.”
Responding to the controversy, Lord Ahmad welcomed the raising of specific concerns, and said that the UK development budget for Pakistan had greater than tripled this 12 months. The Government, he said, was committed to eradicating all forms of recent slavery, and “condemn unequivocally the desecration of spiritual sites and graves and the violence against individuals, and we wish perpetrators to be held accountable.”
On secure and legal routes, he said: “While the Government have a really robust policy on immigration, as we’ve seen in recent months, it is necessary to sustain, maintain, and strengthen those searching for asylum within the UK, particularly those that are persecuted just because of their faith.
“Let us be frank: I actually have seen the advantage of those that have come to our country. When you take a look at a correct evaluation, they make an incredible contribution to the progress of our country, and we’re richer for it.”
