Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 281: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to ongoing reports of religious persecution in Laos; if he has raised this matter with the Laotian authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31135/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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While I am not aware of any specific very recent report on religious persecution in Laos, concerns about freedom of expression have been raised by the EU in the past with the authorities in Laos, most recently by the local EU Presidency last October. In addition, Amnesty International's 2005 Report referred to numerous incidents of religious repression of evangelical Christians having been reported in 2004. The Report stated that the number and consistency of such reports indicated that official government policy on freedom of religion, which is reported to have been relaxed in recent years, had not been implemented uniformly.

Ireland condemns all forms of persecution on the basis of religion or belief, irrespective of where they occur or who the victims are. Ireland, with its EU partners, has previously expressed concern at various international fora, including at the United Nations, over the climate of intolerance towards religious groups in a number of countries around the world.