Monday 11th July was the anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre, carried out in Bosnia in 1995. I signed the Book of Remembrance in the House of Commons, and attended a Memorial Reception at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Several survivors spoke of their memories of this, the most serious crime in a long process of…
On Saturday 10th May, this famous mosque, designed in the 16th century by the Ottoman architect Sinan, rose like a phoenix from its ashes. It had been totally destroyed by explosives, not by fighting, during the war in Bosnia. Banja Luka is the capital in the north-west of Bosnia of Republica Serbska, one of the…
I support the campaign of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Baha’i faith for the release of the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran. They are now entering their eighth year of imprisonment, after a trial which was lacking in due process. May I urge those who see this blog to contact their MP. …
Refugees and Turkey The whole world is grateful to Turkey for taking in a very large number of Syrians. It has provided health care for many, while allowing some to work for their living, and perhaps one-third of the children attend school. On the other hand, if things are as good as the Turkish ambassador…
The House of Lords had earlier passed a number of amendments to this Government’s Bill. On April 26 the House of Commons sent them back with various reasons for rejection. Lord Alton of Liverpool moved a compromise amendment to allow asylum-applicants to take jobs, if their cases were still outstanding after nine months. This was…
