Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards arranging for the report into citizenship removal resulting in statelessness over the three-year period to 29 July 2018 that is required by section 40B of the British Nationality Act 1981.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The report required by Section 40B of the British Nationality Act 1981 relates to the Secretary of State’s use of the power to deprive an individual of British citizenship under section 40A(4A), which to date has not been used.
The next review of the power will be commissioned once a suitable person has been identified to undertake the review.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to support the establishment of, (2) to attend, and (3) to provide evidence to, the independent tribunal established by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC to examine whether the Uighur people are being subjected to genocide.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We have serious concerns about gross violations of human rights occurring in Xinjiang and welcome any work that is rigorous, balanced and raises awareness of the situation faced by Uyghurs and other minorities in China. We are aware of this initiative by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, and will study any resulting report carefully.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding and recommendations of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its briefing paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, to request that an Advisory Opinion be sought from the International Court of Justice on the allegations highlighted in that paper.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, to support the call of the UN independent experts of 26 June for decisive measures to protect fundamental freedoms in China by (1) urging the government of China to invite mandate-holders, including those with a mandate to monitor civil and political rights, to conduct independent missions and to permit those visits to take place in an environment of confidentiality, respect for human rights defenders, and full avoidance of reprisals against those with whom mandate-holders may meet, (2) calling upon the UN Human Rights Council to act with a sense of urgency to take all appropriate measures to monitor Chinese human rights practices, and (3) establishing an impartial and independent United Nations mechanism or a Secretary-General Special Envoy, to closely monitor, analyse and report annually on the human rights situation in China, particularly, in view of the urgency of the situation in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, to invoke China’s international responsibility for alleged violations of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by engaging the inter-State dispute mechanism.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, to use all available offices and legal means to prevent any violations being committed against Uyghur and Turkic Muslim populations.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, as recommended by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, to create and apply Magnitsky-style sanctions on individuals, whether state or non-state actors, where there are reasonable grounds to suspect the person is involved in serious human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on research-led SMEs of the reported decision to withhold the UK's participation in the Unified Patent Court and the associated Unitary Patent.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following publication of the Government’s approach to negotiations with the EU on 27th February, the Government will not be seeking continued participation in the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court. Participating in a court that applies EU law and is bound by the CJEU is inconsistent with our aims of becoming an independent self-governing nation.
All businesses, including SMEs, will be able to maintain patents in the UK and challenge or enforce them before UK courts as they do currently.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the figures presented in section 5.9 of the HM Government Transparency Report 2018: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers (Cm 9609), published on 23 July 2018, (1) how many UK citizens were deprived of British citizenship under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 in 2018 and 2019; and (2) when the next transparency report on disruptive and investigatory powers will be published.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The HM Government transparency report on disruptive powers 2018-19 was published 19 March this year and confirms that 21 individuals were deprived of British citizenship under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 in 2018. Figures for 2019 will be available in the following transparency report on disruptive powers which will be published in due course.