Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many requests he has received from hon. Members on behalf of Afghan citizens who wish to come to the UK since 15 August 2021 as at the date of answering.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Responding to cases and correspondence from Hon. Members is a fundamental priority for this Government. The Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth wrote to 435 MPs and 17 Peers who sent the FCDO cases on 5 Setpember, outlining the actions we are taking to progess cases that have been sent to us, as well as the relevant contact routes now that the evacuation phase is over.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent rape being used as a weapon of war in Tigray, Ethiopia.
Answered by James Duddridge
We are appalled at the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence in Tigray that includes widespread [and systematic] rape. We have raised this issue in a variety of multilateral fora, including the UNSC and G7. I raised this matter when I met with the Ethiopian Minister for Peace on 15 July. who reported that her Government had zero tolerance of such crimes and had convicted 60 soldiers of rape I urged her to actively work with our teams to do more.
We have deployed an expert from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative UK Team of Experts. They are currently conducting an initial scoping mission. Their recommendations from this scoping mission will inform further options - including a wider deployment - for supporting the Government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and other key stakeholders to safely collect and preserve evidence, and bring the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. The UK fully supports the joint investigation involving the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights. We continue to explore options for addressing the immediate needs of survivors, preventing further sexual violence and delivering justice and accountability.
The UK has recently allocated a further £16.7m towards the crisis in Tigray. Part of this funding will be used to support survivors of sexual violence, through mobile health teams and by helping to re-start service delivery at health centres that were impacted by violence and looting.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what evidence he has of rape being used as a weapon of war in Tigray, Ethiopia.
Answered by James Duddridge
We are appalled at the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence in Tigray that includes widespread [and systematic] rape. We have raised this issue in a variety of multilateral fora, including the UNSC and G7. I raised this matter when I met with the Ethiopian Minister for Peace on 15 July. who reported that her Government had zero tolerance of such crimes and had convicted 60 soldiers of rape I urged her to actively work with our teams to do more.
We have deployed an expert from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative UK Team of Experts. They are currently conducting an initial scoping mission. Their recommendations from this scoping mission will inform further options - including a wider deployment - for supporting the Government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and other key stakeholders to safely collect and preserve evidence, and bring the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. The UK fully supports the joint investigation involving the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights. We continue to explore options for addressing the immediate needs of survivors, preventing further sexual violence and delivering justice and accountability.
The UK has recently allocated a further £16.7m towards the crisis in Tigray. Part of this funding will be used to support survivors of sexual violence, through mobile health teams and by helping to re-start service delivery at health centres that were impacted by violence and looting.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department makes available to its staff working at lower grades overseas in red list countries to ensure that they do not face a disproportionate financial burden as a result of the requirement to self-isolate under covid-19 restrictions on returning to the UK on a resilience journey.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As approved by HMT, the FCDO has put measures in place to ensure that all staff posted overseas, including lower grades, do not suffer a disproportionate financial burden as a result of UK public health requirements to self-isolate on return to the UK. The FCDO covers the cost of pre-departure tests, and the mandatory testing on day 2 and 8 while in self-isolation. Accommodation costs cannot currently be met from public funds as per HMRC and HMT guidelines.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with his counterpart in Sierra Leone on the state of political and constitutional freedoms in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
I recently met with Foreign Minister Dr. Alie Kabba and discussed the strong partnership that the UK and Sierra Leone enjoys. Given UK concerns about the Government of Sierra Leone’s policy on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) contained in the new Development Cooperation Framework (DCF), I emphasised the importance of giving NGOs the space to operate and contribute to Sierra Leone’s development. We will continue to engage with the Government of Sierra Leone and NGOs to ensure that the valuable work of NGOs in Sierra Leone is unhindered.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Ugandan counterparts on the (a) human rights situation and (b) the reported arrest of five opposition politicians and 35 activists on 13 August 2018 in that country.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
During my visit to Uganda in October 2018, I raised, at the highest levels, the arrests of opposition MPs and members of the public during the Arua by-election. I reiterated the need for those involved to be treated with dignity and fairness and requested an update from the government on investigations into alleged abuses by the security forces. Minister for Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster, reiterated these points to the Ugandan Defence Minister during his visit to London on 25 October. Our High Commission in Kampala continue regularly to raise concerns around civic and political issues directly with the Ugandan government.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has any information on the whereabouts of Mr Nnamdi Kanu who was last seen in Nigeria in September 2017.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
We have made representations to the Nigerian authorities for information about Mr Kanu's whereabouts since September 2017. The Nigerian authorities stated publicly in March 2018 that they did not know Mr Kanu's whereabouts. We continued to press and on 27 April our High Commission issued a further Note Verbale to the Foreign Ministry in Nigeria following up our previous representation
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times in the past two years he has made representations to the Government of Israel on lifting the blockade of Gaza.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Our Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the issue of restrictions on Gaza with Israeli authorities, stressing their effect on Gaza’s economic development, and urging Israel to go further in easing movement and access restrictions. The Foreign Secretary most recently raised the situation in Gaza during his visit to Israel in March. I went to Gaza in August and raised the matter with Israeli authorities. We also continue to urge Egypt to show maximum flexibility in opening the Rafah crossing.