Sunday, 13 July 2025Unknown Session

EDM 1661: Roshaan Khattak

8 total sponsorsTabled

Motion Text

That this House is alarmed at Cambridge University’s failure to respond to security concerns surrounding a postgraduate researcher facing threats believed to come from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence; notes that the researcher concerned, Roshaan Khattak, is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and academic whose proposed doctorate at Cambridge investigates enforced disappearances and other genocidal crimes in Balochistan, a region of Pakistan intersected by China's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative; condemns the university's instruction that Roshaan Khattak leave the college accommodation by 30 June 2025, which removed any institutional protection that being a student offers, and refused to do any risk assessments or offer advice; is further concerned that as authoritarian regimes grow more aggressive, academics researching politically sensitive topics will continue to face serious threats; calls on Cambridge University to publish clear university procedures for handling transnational repression and its effect on academic freedom; and further calls on the university to reinstate Roshaan Khattak’s PhD progression.

Sponsors (7 total)

Primary Sponsor
John McDonnell

Independent (Ind)

#2
Neil Duncan-Jordan

Independent (Ind)

#3
Jeremy Corbyn

Independent (Ind)

#4
Jim Shannon

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

#5
Chris Law

Scottish National Party (SNP)

#6
Ellie Chowns

Green Party (Green)

#7
Siân Berry

Green Party (Green)

Details

UIN
1661
Date Tabled
13/07/2025
Total Sponsors
8
Status
Tabled