On 25 September, BGIPU hosted a virtual Asia-Pacific briefing session, with the Her Majesty’s Ambassadors to Japan, HE Paul Madden, and Indonesia, HE Owen Jenkins. The event was chaired by Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister and Executive Committee member, Wayne David MP, and was well-attended by members from a variety of committees and APPGs. […]
In cooperation with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC), our partner body, the Parliamentary Human Rights Group and the APPG on Uyghurs, BGIPU Executive Committee members participated in the launch of BHRC’s new report, ‘Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China’, on 22 […]
BGIPU were very pleased to host a briefing from the UK Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, H.E. Simon Smith on 20 July regarding that country’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and hear his observations on the key social, economic and political impacts of the outbreak. Members warmly welcomed the opportunity to hear directly […]
On Friday 19 June, BGIPU hosted a virtual parliamentary discussion on COVID-19: The Increased Risks and Vulnerabilities to Refugees and Migrant Populations with The British Red Cross (BRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The proceedings were chaired by BGIPU Executive Committee member, Chris Law MP, with panellists from both BRC and MSF. The event was […]
The IPU welcomes the latest actions by the Uzbek Parliament to implement international human rights standards at the national level. Following an IPU recommendation, Uzbek parliamentarians recently participated in a video meeting involving multiple international and Uzbek organizations to review the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty adopted […]
I led a cross party delegation to Jakarta Indonesia from August 16th-21st, the first by the APPG for Indonesia, which I chair. The delegation consisted of Conservative MPs, Chair of the British Group of the IPU, Rt Hon John Whittingdale and Stephen Metcalfe; and Labour MPs, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary, Dawn Butler and Shadow […]
During 17 -20 September 2019, the Thailand All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) visited Bangkok, Thailand, at the invitation of the Royal Thai Embassy. Roger Godsiff MP, Chair of the APPG, led a delegation of UK parliamentarians which included Sir Graham Brady MP, Sir David Amess MP, and Lord Astor of Hever. The visit was organised […]
Our visit to Vietnam comprised a cross-party group of four MPs and two Peers which travelled the length of the country from Hanoi in the north, to Danang onwards to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow and creates increased prosperity, it will be incumbent upon the country’s many international partners like the UK to do their utmost to help Vietnam along a path of social and political change. This visit has hopefully ensured the friendship between our Parliaments has been truly deepened to assist that process.
Like many of my generation my knowledge of Vietnam is shaped by the harrowing images of the war in the 1970s. I wanted to know how Vietnam has moved on since that dreadful time and the extent to which it has managed to recreate and rebuild itself. I was also really curious to know about whether the communist system was managing to keep relevant and how, if at all, it seeks to promote its legitimacy and genuinely modernise the infrastructure and economy of the country. I reflect upon what I found during this recent BGIPU visit.
At an event arranged by the Chair of the APPG for Human Rights, Rt Hon Ann Clwyd MP, and attended by members of the APPG for Malaysia led by its Chair, Sir William Cash MP, the UK Parliament warmly welcomed the recent full pardon of Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. In his comments to MPs and Peers, Mr Anwar recognised the important role parliamentarians had played in supporting his struggle for justice, particularly through the work of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.
