UK considers envoy for Britons held abroad

Britain is preparing to emulate the United States by appointing an envoy tasked with freeing citizens controversially detained abroad, as it faces calls to do more to bring them home.

High-profile cases like jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah have spotlighted the plight of Britons held in jails overseas.

The UK foreign ministry insists it continues to press such cases with governments, but relatives of detainees and human rights organizations complain of a lack of urgency and transparency.

"The government is committed to strengthening support for British nationals, including through the appointment of a new envoy," a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer has said an "Envoy for Complex Consular Detentions" is expected to be appointed "before the summer".

The government has not specified the terms of the role but it could be similar to America's Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a position created in 2015. Unlike the United States though, Britain does not take part in prisoner exchanges.

Professor Carla Ferstman, an expert on arbitrary detentions at the Human Rights Centre at Essex Law School, said appointing someone would be the "clearest thing that the UK can do that it hasn't done yet".

"When you have someone at the highest level they command a certain level of respect," she said.

Abdel Fattah was arrested in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of "spreading false news" after sharing a Facebook post about police brutality.

He is still imprisoned despite a hunger strike by his mother and Britain's foreign ministry saying it is pushing for his release "at the highest levels of the Egyptian government".

His sister Sanaa Seif said an envoy would mean "a proper continued focus on" freeing detainees. "It's also important to have a focal point that can help coordinate between different government bodies so that they all work in synchronization," she said.

'Clear strategy'

Seif believes the government should consider revising travel advice to Egypt too, a call also made by lawmakers who have suggested the government should sanction Egyptian officials as well.

"Is it not clear that words are no longer sufficient?" Conservative peer Guy Black asked in parliament's House of Lords recently.

Ferstman said tightening travel guidance can be a powerful tool.

"It's a big deal because all of a sudden tourists can't get insurance and it's harder for business travel to happen. There's all kinds of implications," she explained.

The Labour government pledged in its general election-winning manifesto last year that it would introduce "a new right to consular assistance in cases of human rights violations".

Rights groups want the government to call for a person's "immediate release", including publicly when it is requested by the family.

UK officials say the government can be wary of accusations it is interfering in another country's judicial system.

Jagtar Singh Johal, a Sikh blogger from Scotland, was arrested in India in November 2017 while there for his wedding on accusations of being part of a terror plot against right-wing Hindu leaders. He has not been convicted of a crime and in March was cleared in one of the nine charges against him.

The foreign ministry spokesperson said Foreign Secretary David Lammy "continues to raise concerns" about the detention with India's government "at every appropriate opportunity".

But his brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, complains of being kept in the dark.

"We don't know what's actually being said," he said.

Gurpreet said an envoy would be a "good thing" but until the position is in place, "We won't know exactly what it means."