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Arms Trade: Indonesia

Asked by Jeremy CorbynYour PartyDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 15 September 2025UIN 75927

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his arms licensing policy in relation to Indonesia of the human rights situation in West Papua.

Answered by Chris Bryant

HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust export control regimes in the world.

We assess all export licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including Criterion 2 which requires us to consider the current human rights situation in the country which is the final destination of controlled exports, as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law. The Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We also keep extant licences under constant and continual review on this basis.

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