Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with regional partners on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO ministers are in regular contact with their international counterparts on Afghanistan both in the region and beyond. The Foreign Secretary discussed the situation in Afghanistan during his recent visit to Central Asia. The UK Special Representative to Afghanistan regularly engages with international counterparts, including at the last Special Envoys' meeting in Doha in February, which focused on political and humanitarian issues.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Thai counterpart on support for refugees from the conflict in Myanmar.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary discussed the current situation in Myanmar with the Thai Prime Minister and Thai Foreign Minister during his visit to Thailand in March 2024. Discussions covered the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all in need inside Myanmar, and support those fleeing across the border. The UK continues to provide humanitarian assistance to people displaced by the conflict in Myanmar. Since September 2022, we have provided essential support to more than 85,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking to support NGOs operating in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan and NGOs operating in the country. Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed over £600 million in aid for Afghanistan. This funding includes direct and indirect support to a range of NGOs operating in Afghanistan. UK officials also meet regularly with NGO partners to discuss the operating context in Afghanistan, and to ensure support is as effective as possible.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of whether the provisional official development assistance spend of £888 million of bilateral aid towards humanitarian assistance in 2023 is sufficient to meet the International Development Strategy Commitment to spend £3 billion on humanitarian funding over the next three years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As set out in my [the Deputy Foreign Secretary's] 30 March 2023 Written Ministerial Statement (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-03-30/HCWS705), we continue to work towards our spending targets where funding allows, including on humanitarian. The White Paper on International Development commits us to spending £1 billion on humanitarian need in 2024-25.
The UK's humanitarian spending figures for three years will not be available until after the end of 2024-25.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent progress his Department has made to meet the pledge in the policy paper entitled UK government's strategy for international development, published on 16 May 2022, to spend £3 billion of official development assistance on humanitarian assistance over three years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As set out in my [the Deputy Foreign Secretary's] 30 March 2023 Written Ministerial Statement (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-03-30/HCWS705), we continue to work towards our spending targets where funding allows, including on humanitarian. The White Paper on International Development commits us to spending £1 billion on humanitarian need in 2024-25.
The UK's humanitarian spending figures for three years will not be available until after the end of 2024-25.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the humanitarian and refugee situation following the increased violence in Myanmar near the Thai border.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is monitoring the situation in Myawaddy closely. We are engaging international partners, including Thailand, and continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict across Myanmar. Since the coup in 2021, the UK has provided almost £150 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance, emergency healthcare and education support, and work to support civil society and local communities across Myanmar. Over 54% of our funding is directed to local organisations, who have access to conflict-affected communities and act as first responders following new crises.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with regional partners on the humanitarian situation in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to work with our international partners to build a coordinated and coherent response so international support can reach people in need. I [Minister Rutley] have engaged significantly on this issue, discussing it with regional and international partners over many months. I most recently engaged with Caribbean partners during my attendance at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Guyana on 26 February, where I discussed concerns about - and options to respond to - the security situation in Haiti with interlocuters. The difficult security situation within Haiti has impeded humanitarian access and we will continue to work with our international partners to build a coordinated and coherent response so international support can reach people in need. It is clear that the climate of insecurity is driving Haiti's humanitarian needs, and we hope that deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, to which the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million ODA contribution on 9 April, will improve this.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department has undertaken contingency planning with the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean for steps to be taken in the event of a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to the safety and security of all British Overseas Territories. Since the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Haiti we have worked closely, with other international partners, to continue to strengthen the resilience of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in responding to the risk of illegal migration. In March, the Foreign Secretary set out the support we are providing to TCI to secure its borders and we have funded a visit by a team of experts from the Home Office and Ministry of Defence to recommend further measures. We have also funded asylum training across the Overseas Territories and are working with the Home Office to bolster capabilities further.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional support for measures to support (a) stability and (b) reconstruction in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in the country, and commends the efforts of Caribbean partners to work towards a return to security and stability. It is clear that the climate of insecurity is driving Haiti's humanitarian needs, and we hope that deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, to which the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million ODA contribution on 9 April, will improve this. We are also working closely with partners, including the UN mission in Haiti (BINUH).
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to support NGOs operating in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to support Haiti through our contributions to UN agencies, multi donor, pooled NGO funds, and institutions such as the World Bank Group, who are active in addressing Haiti's significant humanitarian challenges. We are also supporting the UN mission in Haiti (BINUH) to strengthen their presence in the country in order to create the conditions under which NGOs can operate and deliver services to the Haitian people.