India: Restrictions on Freedom

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Monday 15th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I hope I caught the question adequately. I hate to repeat myself, but our approach has always been and will remain one which involves taking our concerns directly to the Government of India. We do this; we have many discussions and a close relationship. We will continue to engage on the full range of concerns that have been raised on this Question and on others. We have always taken that approach and will continue to take it, as we feel it yields the greatest possible results.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, in the interests of cricket and fair play, does the Minister share my concern about the use of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and its very damaging effect on civil society and the mainstream aid agencies? Will HMG continue to complain regularly to the Modi Government about the imprisonment of journalists and the fear of persecution felt by non-Hindu minorities, Dalit activists, NGOs and all those campaigning against human rights violations?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the UK is committed to media freedom, democracy and human rights all around the world. Independent media is a prerequisite to any vibrant democracy such as the UK and India. We regularly engage with India’s vibrant media, including through the annual South Asia Journalism Fellowship programme under our flagship Chevening brand. This year we are supporting the Thomson Reuters Foundation to run workshops covering issues such as human trafficking, child labour and more. In July, my noble friend Lord Ahmad discussed the UK’s commitment to promoting media freedom through the Media Freedom Coalition with India’s Minister for External Affairs.

Anti-slavery Projects: Commonwealth

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, has a way of highlighting issues which concern the very poorest, and we must be grateful to him because the Commonwealth as an institution needs much more focus and visibility.

While I was on the anti-slavery council I became aware of appalling examples of slavery and trafficking, including among the victims of the caste system which persists in India today. Since then, an enormous amount has been done to ensure that we in the UK are not benefiting from supply chains that exploit those victims, especially child slaves.

The Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner, in her lecture last year, said that half the world’s victims of slavery live in the Commonwealth and called for more UK action on child trafficking. ICAI is not pleased, as we have heard, and the CHRI has a programmed tied to SDG 8.7, which means ending child labour by 2025—there is a challenge. I put my faith in NGOs and faith groups, but civil society has a huge potential to bring about change.

Belarus

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I assure my noble friend that we are working not just with the United States but, as I said in response to a previous question, with our EU allies on this issue. We need to bring direct pressure on the Belarus Administration, which we have done at the highest level through sanctions. However, we also continue to implore Russia to ensure that the elections which were held previously can be held again, and in a fair and transparent way.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, how does the Minister know that the OSCE and the United Nations are actively investigating both the election process and these human rights violations, including the brutal treatment of hundreds of detainees still going on? Can he also confirm reports of the building of an internment camp for political prisoners?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, on the noble Earl’s second point, we have been following media reports and our ambassador is following the situation closely. However, I assure him that there have been periphery meetings at the UN, and directly at the Human Rights Council in September, and we are now awaiting a report from the human rights commissioner on the situation on the ground, to be published in March.

International Human Rights Day

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

In the interests of brevity, the short answer to my noble friend is: absolutely. PSVI and women, peace and security are central to our thinking and we have raised these issues and priorities, including ICAN support for the protection framework for women mediators. They will be central to our work in places such as Yemen, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

I thank the Minister for what he does for human rights every day. Does he share my concern about continuing discrimination in India against Muslims, Christians and other minorities such as the Dalits and the Adivasis, and the impact that this has on India’s international status and Commonwealth profile? Is there anything that the FCDO has done or can do about this?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I can confirm for the noble Earl that we raise human rights concerns across the globe. We have very constructive relations with India; in that respect, we raise our candid concerns about human rights in India. I assure him that the issue of human rights, particularly freedom of religion, is enshrined in the Indian constitution, and we continue to engage very constructively on this agenda with India.

Sustainable Development Goals

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

We are, of course, committed to a sustainable and resilient recovery as we build back better from Covid-19. We look forward to hosting the COP 26 conference next November, where will be able to focus on all the issues that the noble Lord has raised.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, who exactly are the poorest of the poor who must not be left behind? Will the FCDO identify them? Are they the ones without food, water or healthcare? Are they refugees? Will the UK focus SDGs more on those suffering from endemic poverty, such as victims of slavery or Dalits who have to clean latrines day after day in India? I think the public would like to know.

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, one of the core missions of the FCDO is to end extreme poverty, while also ensuring that all our programmes are reaching the bottom billion—the people most in need of the support that we give through our development programmes. We will continue to develop our programmes, making sure that we are reaching those most in need so that we do not leave anyone behind.

Zimbabwe

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for highlighting this issue. Even before the pandemic, Zimbabwe already had one of the highest prevalence rates of violence against women. We are investing in trying to help stop gender-based violence: as my noble friend said, we have funded a preventing sexual exploitation and abuse co-ordinator within Zimbabwe, and we are also working hard on a programme to stop abuse and female exploitation.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

Would the Minister agree, first, that, with over half the population facing food insecurity, family farms deserve much greater priority and need more international support? Mozambique was a good example of that. Secondly, would she agree that the UK has a historic responsibility to join Zimbabwe in resolving the land reform issue, along with compensation for evicted farmers, so that, in time, the country can return to food self-sufficiency?

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, we note the signing of a recent $3.5 billion compensation deal between the Zimbabwean Government and farmers for improvements to land, but we remain concerned that the agreement is not underpinned by the finance necessary to deliver the agreement. Officials at the British embassy in Harare speak regularly with a full range of stakeholders, who are interested in reaching an agreement on compensation.

Afghanistan

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I can certainly give that assurance to my noble friend. Indeed, the challenges of Covid and the pandemic have shown how we can enable learning through technology. I certainly want to look at that area further, not just in Afghanistan, but in other areas across the world.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, as the Minister has already said, the UK has been prominent in anti-corruption and police reform, alongside the EU and the UN—President Ghani himself attended a meeting on that on 4 October. However, does the Minister have any evidence that in the present political situation, these initiatives are effective and will lead to real change?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Earl is right to raise this issue. The UK has supported the Afghan National Police, which helps to support the Afghani defence and security forces. We continue to fund up to £70 million through trust funds for this purpose, and we continue to engage and support through technical support and training. I cannot speculate what the outcome of the negotiations will be. They remain challenging; as I said earlier, they have stalled. However, we are ensuring that all the support we give, including to the Afghan police, stays in place.

Treaty Scrutiny: Working Practices (EUC Report)

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2020 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow my noble friend. We owe him a great deal for these deliberations. I was a happy member of the EU External Affairs Sub-Committee until a year ago, when, under new Brexit jurisdiction, I entered the jungle of international agreements. These are predominantly trade deals of some complexity. I record my thanks to the clerks and professional advisers who are steering our treaties committee through them.

The German expression “Handel ist Wandel”—trade means change—has been used to describe the positive economic and political changes in eastern Europe, but the wheel may have turned as applied to the ongoing US negotiations with China, featuring strong sanctions and withdrawal from Huawei. Addressing human rights or climate change through trade with some countries now seems inconceivable, but we need to maintain standards, especially with the countries we already know and relate to.

Our Government have embarked positively on several new deals simultaneously, the most critical being with the EU itself. There I believe we are dragging our feet, given the historic importance of this partnership and its importance to other agreements. It is a subject which needs urgent debate, especially if the Northern Ireland agreement is threatened, as we heard today. I am glad that this will come up tomorrow. Every day we get wooden answers from Ministers while vital mutual questions of health, agriculture, climate change and security remain unresolved.

Then there are the other agreements: the important but half-baked US deal; and the more promising agreements with Japan, Australia and New Zealand and, through them, a possible one with the Pacific. It is an ambitious programme to say the least and it is vital that Parliament and the stakeholders concerned keep abreast of it. Using the CRaG framework, as we have heard, has been a good start, encouraged by a number of Select Committee reports. Our new committee, acting in conjunction with the Commons International Trade Committee, has already received evidence on the US and Japan deals, and has heard from both the Secretaries of State. It has also published a report on working practices. In that report there are important recommendations, already mentioned, on transparency, timescale and the need for trust between Parliament and the Executive.

It is important to recognise that the Government have in these early stages co-operated quite closely with the committee, but I repeat the need for the FCO to pay more attention to the human rights sections in the EMs, difficult as this will be. We have had reassurances from our Human Rights Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, and he may well refer to these today.

My background being with development NGOs, I am also concerned that NGOs and lobbyists have proper access to information. These days, there are at least as many experts among NGOs as there are in government; in fact, many of them have moved into government. Of course, there are also confidential issues which have to be discussed inside Parliament. The Trade Bill in the Commons was highly disappointing from the point of view of our report. It could have done more to reassure the public as well as Parliament. Jonathan Djanogly and others were trying to insist, through reasonable amendments, that the Government should provide proper reporting on the content of agreements interlined for negotiation and ratification. I did not speak on this at Second Reading and I am using this opportunity to reiterate those complaints made by Members of Parliament.

I end by thanking the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, for presenting our report so well, my noble friend Lord Kinnoull for leading for the European Union Select Committee, and the Minister for replying and for the positive remarks that I know he is about to make.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development: Merger

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Monday 27th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the new department carries the word “development” for an important reason, because development will continue to be a focus. The Government will remain accountable and transparent in our dealings on ODA, through parliamentary scrutiny and by answering Parliamentary Questions, as I am today. As I have already said to the right reverend Prelate, we will continue to return to the subject when the new department comes online in September.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, a £2.9 billion aid cut and an inevitably costly merger are bound to hurt the poorest. Can the Minister at least reassure us that—[Inaudible.]

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I did not catch the full question; I will write to the noble Earl on the specifics.

Press Freedom

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend raises an important point about the protection of journalists. She will be aware of UNESCO’s annual reporting. In 2019, 57 journalists and media workers were killed, and while this is a decline on previous year, it is 57 too many. She raises the important issue of ensuring that we raise media freedom and the protection of journalists in particular, and I assure her that we do this in all our interactions and that it remains a key priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, would the Minister agree that the recent arrest in Egypt of prominent author Ahdaf Soueif, the imprisonment of members of her family, and the continued detention of poet Galal El-Behairy and many others are events of international concern? Will the FCO draw more attention to these human rights violations and the poor treatment of writers, editors and journalists in and outside Egyptian prisons?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the noble Earl raises an important issue. I assure all noble Lords that we raise the importance of media freedom in all our interactions with Egypt. I recall my last visit to Egypt in my capacity as Human Rights Minister, and that was high up the agenda. Most recently, my right honourable friend the Minister for the Middle East raised it in ministerial dialogue in March, including the specific cases the noble Earl highlighted.