Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Cameroon about the impact of the cholera outbreak in Cameroon on the welfare and safety of prisoners in that country; and what assistance, if any, they plan to offer to them to help combat the outbreak.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The state of prisons and welfare of prisoners is a sensitive subject in Cameroon and requires careful handling. The UK's partner, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), conducts prison monitoring as part of its programme in Cameroon - last year, they visited 20 places of detention and 9,247 detainees. The UK has contributed to the wider cholera response in Cameroon through core contributions to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which recently made an allocation of $1.7 million to WHO and UNICEF. More generally, the UK has allocated over £20 million of humanitarian support for needs in Cameroon over the last five years, and regularly calls for continued humanitarian access. We continue to engage with the UN and other humanitarian actors active across Cameroon to ensure that urgent needs are met, including most recently with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 29 April, on the impact of the suspension of humanitarian activities.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any (1) systems, or (2) agreements are in place, to encourage the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to proactively share information with UK authorities relating to entities registered in these jurisdictions that are suspected to be connected to sanctioned individuals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies share valuable company ownership information with UK law authorities under the Exchange of Notes process, whereby information is shared with UK law authorities within at least 24 hours of receiving a request (and within one hour for urgent requests). Information provided has enabled the seizure of illicit funds, including information to support the National Crime Agency's (NCA) first Unexplained Wealth Order, which froze approximately £25 million. Furthermore, the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, which sits within HM Treasury, engages regularly with the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies on compliance, enforcement and licensing. This engagement has assisted these jurisdictions in developing the implementation of financial sanctions across the wider UK Family.
UK sanctions apply in all Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies, and these jurisdictions have frozen Russian assets with a combined estimated value in excess of £10 billion. These figures are likely to change.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Cameroon on the need for a negotiated political settlement to end armed conflict in the Anglophone regions.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK regularly raises the Anglophone crisis with the Government of Cameroon, stressing the impact it continues to have on the country and its people, as well as the need for inclusive dialogue. The Minister for Africa raised this with the Cameroonian High Commissioner last month.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to Cameroonian civil society organisations working in Anglophone regions in Cameroon focusing on (1) the needs and empowerment of women and girls, (2) the needs of internally displaced persons, (3) access to education, (4) peace-building, and (5) human rights monitoring.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Over the last three years, we have provided over £20 million in humanitarian support across Cameroon, including the North-West and South-West regions. This funding is providing support to the most vulnerable people to improve food security, healthcare, water access and sanitation. We have also delivered Conflict, Stability and Security Fund programming, with the aim of increasing respect for human rights; including training of human rights monitors and improving the quality of human rights reporting, as well as delivering training to better protect human rights defenders. Finally, we have funded capacity building to enhance the technical skills of women to better participate in peace processes and support survivors of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what monies they have allocated to Cameroon from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in the last 12 months; and for what purposes.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In the last financial year (2021-2022) the UK allocated £1.1 million from the CSSF-funded Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilisation Facility (RSF) to support UN stabilisation activities in the Far North of Cameroon.
The UK also supports capacity building and training to the Cameroon military in the Far North, through approximately £1.3 million of CSSF funding in financial year 2021-2022. This includes the provision of targeted training to select Cameroonian armed forces, including the Battalion d'Intervention Rapide (BIR). This training is focused on the Lake Chad Basin conflict only, and emphasises obligations to adhere to strict International Human Rights standards. We have also supported training on the law of armed conflict.
In addition, over the last financial year we have allocated £350,000 to CSSF funded projects in the North-West and South-West regions of the country. This has supported projects primarily focused on improving human rights, including training of human rights monitors and improving the quality of human rights reporting, as well as training to improve the protection of human rights defenders.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies proactively share information with UK authorities relating to entities registered in these jurisdictions that are suspected to be connected to sanctioned individuals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is proud of the principled stand that the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies have taken in relation to implementing sanctions. UK sanctions apply in all Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. The elected leaders of the Territories have publicly confirmed their commitment to continuing to uphold the highest international standards of transparency and accountability. The Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies cooperate with the UK on taxation, fighting financial crime and sanctions enforcement. They continue to share valuable information on company beneficial ownership with UK law authorities, under the Exchange of Notes process.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken towards the introduction of beneficial ownership in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments, who are responsible for their own financial services policy. The Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies already share beneficial ownership information with UK law enforcement and have committed to introduce publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership. The UK Government welcomes this action; it is an important step forward and a positive response to the changing UK, global norms on corporate transparency. These commitments exceed the standards set by the Financial Action Task Force on beneficial ownership transparency, and put them ahead of most jurisdictions. The Overseas Territories Governments are making good progress, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is providing support with this, as required.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Cameroon to protect journalists at risk of (1) persecution, (2) arbitrary detention, (3) kidnapping, and (4) abuse, for reporting on the continuing conflict in the Anglophone regions; and what steps they will take to provide support for media freedom in that country.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Reports of human rights abuses and violations in Cameroon by both armed separatists and the security forces are disturbing, including against activists and journalists. We continue to regularly raise specific human rights concerns with the Government of Cameroon. We have consistently called for an end to arbitrary detentions and media infringements. Journalists should be protected and have the right to report freely without fear of violence. We also continue to urge the Cameroonian Government to remain engaged with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Finally, we are working with international partners, including France and the United States, to raise the North-West and South-West crisis in multilateral fora. At the UN Human Rights Council in September 2021, the UK called for an end to violence and impartial investigations to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to account.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Cameroon about the death in custody of journalist Samuel Abuwe Ajieka, in August 2019.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Reports of human rights abuses and violations in Cameroon by both armed separatists and the security forces are disturbing, including against activists and journalists. We continue to regularly raise specific human rights concerns with the Government of Cameroon. We have consistently called for an end to arbitrary detentions and media infringements. Journalists should be protected and have the right to report freely without fear of violence. We also continue to urge the Cameroonian Government to remain engaged with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Finally, we are working with international partners, including France and the United States, to raise the North-West and South-West crisis in multilateral fora. At the UN Human Rights Council in September 2021, the UK called for an end to violence and impartial investigations to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to account.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations, if any, they plan to make to the UN Secretary-General about the absence of the Saudi Arabian and Emirati-led Coalition from the annual report by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, published on 21 June, on perpetrators of violations against children.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to call on the UN Secretary General for greater transparency on listing decisions. The UK is firmly committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to protecting all children affected by armed conflict. We use our permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) membership to ensure conflict-related child protection issues remain a key part of UNSC discussions and that UN operations address child protection issues.