Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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273. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware of a case (details supplied) in which activists have been jailed; if he will advocate for their release and support the investigation into human rights abuses in the region. [23703/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of arrests made and ongoing detention of a number of civil society activists by authorities in the province of Balochistan, in south-west Pakistan, in recent weeks and of the ongoing unrest in this region which has witnessed violent insurgencies and political and ethnic conflict in recent years.

Ireland, through our Embassy in Islamabad, continues to monitor developments in the Balochistan region closely and has engaged regularly with both the EU Delegation and like-minded partners in Pakistan regarding the most appropriate response and representations to authorities.

Our commitment to the promotion and protection of universal human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom to participate in the political process, remains clear. Ireland engages regularly with Pakistan on political and human rights issues in the country, at both bilateral and multilateral level.

Human rights is also an important part of the EU-Pakistan dialogue. Various concerns were raised at the EU-Pakistan Sub-Group on Democracy, Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights during the 14th EU-Pakistan Joint Commission in November 2024. Human rights will also continue to feature prominently in trade discussions, most notably to ensure the implementation of international human rights conventions linked to the trade preferences afforded to Pakistan under the GSP+ scheme.

My Department, through our Embassy in Islamabad, will continue to monitor the evolving situation, along with our like-minded partners and the EU Delegation in Islamabad.