A prominent international human rights watchdog on Thursday called on newly-elected UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet to focus on human rights while responding to current challenges, such as Brexit, welfare policies, trade and arms sales.
On Wednesday, Johnson, the former mayor of London and the ex-UK foreign secretary, was appointed as the new head of the cabinet by Queen Elizabeth II. The appointment followed Johnson’s victory in the race to succeed Theresa May as the leader of the Conservative Party and the prime minister.
“In responding to the United Kingdom’s deep political, economic, and constitutional challenges, it’s important that the government doesn’t downgrade the human rights on which everyone in the country depends. The commitment to maintain rights needs to begin with the new prime minister himself,” Benjamin Ward, the acting UK director at Human Rights Watch, was quoted as saying in a press release.
The watchdog identified five priority areas for the new prime minister where human rights are at risk. The list includes protecting human rights in the context of Brexit; ensuring food security for UK families; fight against domestic violence; prioritizing rights in UK foreign and trade policy; banning UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid repeated violations in Yemeni war.
According to Ward, London will have to maintain human rights protection on the national and international level in order to ensure Johnson’s ambitions, who previously promised to make the country “more engaged with the world than ever before.”
In 2016, UK citizens voted to leave the European Union. The country was initially set to withdraw from the bloc last March but UK lawmakers have not endorsed a Brexit deal agreed upon by London and Brussels, so the deadline was moved to October 31.
