Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have gathered any evidence of Iranian fighters in Iraq.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is on the ground in both advisory and combat roles in Iraq and that Iran is providing significant funding, training and equipment to elements of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces.
Along with our international partners, the UK has consistently made clear that there is a role for all of Iraq’s neighbours in helping defeat Daesh. We have no difficulty with contributions from around the region to the goal of ridding Iraq of the Daesh threat, provided that those contributions are authorised by the Iraqi government. We will continue to work closely with our international partners to encourage all of Iraq’s neighbours to play a transparent and constructive role in its affairs.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed since the start of the 2003 Iraq war.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government has not made an estimate of the number of Iraqis killed as a result of terrorism and war-related violence since 2003. While the security situation in Iraq has greatly improved since violence peaked in 2006-2007, Iraqi civilians have been victim to Daesh’s atrocities since the summer of 2014. We utterly condemn such violence and call for those responsible to be brought to justice. The UK is committed to supporting the Government of Iraq as it works to defeat Daesh and put Iraq on the path to long-term peace and stability.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to encourage Kurdish Iraqis, Sunnis and Shia Muslims to live together after defeating ISIS in Iraq.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are supporting the Iraqi government in its efforts to unite Iraq’s communities against Daesh and extremism, rebuild public trust in the Iraqi state and deliver the services and opportunities which all Iraqis want and deserve. We welcome the commitments that the Government of Iraq has made to inclusivity, to protecting Iraqi citizens, to addressing human rights abuses and holding those responsible to account.
There are now more than 3 million internally displaced people in Iraq. We have committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian effort in Iraq to help those who have fled Daesh’s brutality, and are the largest donor to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs-managed Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund.
We are contributing £6 million to the UN’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilisation, to help the Iraqi government stabilise areas recently liberated from Daesh and re-establish security, basic services and inclusive local governance. We will provide funding for a number of projects designed to support community cohesion and encourage reconciliation, acceptance and tolerance between communities at a grass roots level.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of measures to improve relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have continued to make progress on our relationship with Iran since we reopened our Embassies in August 2015, including through reciprocal ministerial visits and the reopening of our visa services.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the US regarding the implementation of HR158 under the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015, which prevents British nationals from travelling to the US if they may have visited Iran, Sudan, Iraq or Syria in the last five years; and what assessment they have made of whether that implementation is discriminatory.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While US immigration processes are a matter for the US authorities, we have raised with the US administration the importance of clearly communicating changes to their immigration policy. The US Customs and Border Protection service has stated publicly that “the religion, faith, or spiritual beliefs of an international traveller are not determining factors about his/her admissibility into the US”. We remain in close contact with the US Embassy in order to avoid inconvenience to British nationals travelling to the US.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 27 April (HL7738), what assessment they have made of the impact of their representations on the government of Israel with regard to house demolitions, in the light of the number of deaths and injuries caused during such incidents in the first three months of 2016.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government remains extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. We are not aware of any deaths which have resulted from demolitions. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to regularly raise our concerns on demolitions with the Israeli authorities. As a result of these representations, the UK’s humanitarian and legal concerns on demolitions have been made clear.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they keep statistics of how many British citizens have been excluded from travelling to the US under HR158 of the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015; and if so, how many have been so excluded; and whether they are aware of any British Parliamentarians being refused entry under that rule.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
US immigration processes – including the collection of statistics - are a matter for the US authorities. A number of Members of Parliament have raised this issue on behalf of their constituents and we are aware of at least one Parliamentarian affected by the new legislation. We have raised the importance of clearly communicating changes to immigration policy with the US administration, and remain in close contact with the US Embassy in order to avoid inconvenience to British nationals travelling to the US.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they keep statistics regarding how many British parliamentarians have visited (1) Sudan, (2) Syria, (3) Iran, and (4) Iraq, in the last five years; and if so, what assessment they have made of how many may be discouraged from visiting those countries in the future due to the implementation of HR158 under the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015 by US authorities.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Figures for the number of British parliamentarians who have visited (1) Sudan, (2) Syria, (3) Iran, and (4) Iraq, in the last five years are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. As Parliamentarians are not obliged to inform the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of their travel commitments, any figures held by overseas posts may not be accurate. The FCO has not made any assessment of the impact of the implementation of HR158 under the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015 by US authorities on travel by parliamentarians to these countries
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between MQM and the government of India, and of whether that party is funded by that government.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government is aware of media reports alleging that the Government of India has funded the Muttahida Quami Movement political party. The conduct of political parties in Pakistan is a matter for the Pakistani authorities. Our officials in Pakistan encourage political parties to act within the constitution and law of Pakistan.
Asked by: Lord Ahmed (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iraq and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in relation to defending Turkmen civilians.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware of reports that Turkmen civilians have been targeted by Daesh in Iraq, as well as Christians, Yazidis, Muslims and others. In October the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met the President of the Iraqi Turkmen Front to discuss the situation for Turkmen in Iraq.
We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution of all communities by Daesh. We continue to urge the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional government to do all they can to ensure the security and rights of all Iraqis.