Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 January (HL4816), what consideration they have given to increasing the £350,000 given in aid to the Start Fund for Nagorno-Karabakh due to the ongoing blockade of (1) food, and (2) medicine, caused by the closure of the Lachin corridor.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Officials continue to discuss the developing situation in the region with humanitarian partners. In 2020, the UK Government was the first to respond to the outbreak of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and allocate £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and, should further requests come in in relation to the Lachin Corridor, we will consider accordingly. At this time we have received no additional requests for funds from humanitarian organisations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the number of Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers in Jordan; and what assistance they have provided to such refugees and asylum seekers.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported 65,724 Iraqi refugees registered in Jordan in November 2022. In 2022 the UK supported 70,000 vulnerable refugees in Jordan with cash assistance to cover basic needs such as food and shelter and 150,000 refugee children to access education. The UK does not distinguish its support between Iraqi and other refugees but instead targets its support to the most vulnerable through UN agencies.
Since the expansion of Daesh in 2014, the UK has committed over £370 million in humanitarian and stabilisation assistance in Iraq to support communities across Iraq, including the reconstruction of areas affected by conflict and creating the conditions for displaced Iraqis to be able to return home. This includes £5 million to provide technical assistance to the Government of Iraq to improve its capacity to support displaced communities to return home and improve the coordination of services available to them. We continue to work with the Government of Iraq to ensure that areas affected by conflict are adequately support and that any returns are safe, dignified and voluntary.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they have provided to the government of Iraq to establish the conditions necessary for Iraqi refugees to return from Jordan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported 65,724 Iraqi refugees registered in Jordan in November 2022. In 2022 the UK supported 70,000 vulnerable refugees in Jordan with cash assistance to cover basic needs such as food and shelter and 150,000 refugee children to access education. The UK does not distinguish its support between Iraqi and other refugees but instead targets its support to the most vulnerable through UN agencies.
Since the expansion of Daesh in 2014, the UK has committed over £370 million in humanitarian and stabilisation assistance in Iraq to support communities across Iraq, including the reconstruction of areas affected by conflict and creating the conditions for displaced Iraqis to be able to return home. This includes £5 million to provide technical assistance to the Government of Iraq to improve its capacity to support displaced communities to return home and improve the coordination of services available to them. We continue to work with the Government of Iraq to ensure that areas affected by conflict are adequately support and that any returns are safe, dignified and voluntary.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of Iraqi refugees in Jordan that have (1) applied for, and (2) been granted, asylum in the UK since 2014.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum applications and initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 respectively of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q3 2022.
Please note, to apply for asylum in the UK, individuals must be physically in the UK. Published statistics therefore relate to Iraqi nationals who have applied for asylum while in the UK. The Home Office does not collect information on the location of refugees after they have received their decision.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representation they have made to the government of Israel to safeguard and protect religious minorities in that country following the desecration of graves at the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion, Jerusalem.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As a defender of freedom of religion or belief for all, the UK urges respect for all burial and holy sites, which must be treated with dignity. The UK is committed to promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities and condemns all attacks on the right to freedom of religion or belief. Israel has made clear its commitment to freedom of religion and we are grateful for the Israeli authority's swift condemnation of these acts. As Minister for the Middle East, I reinforced this message during a visit to a UK donor funded school facing demolition on 12 January, in Masafer Yatta.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Azerbaijan regarding ending the blockade of the Lachin corridor that links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty MP, issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors, including representatives of the Azerbaijani Government. The United Kingdom also called for early resolution of this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken, or plan to undertake, a Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) assessment of the blockade of the Lachin corridor to underpin the UK National Security Council Strategy for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) for the South Caucasus region completed in early 2022. It recommended that the UK Government act, where it can, to address regional drivers of conflict in the South Caucasus and exploit opportunities for greater regional dialogue and cooperation. In line with this recommendation, the UK is spending £1 million on conflict-related programming in Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2022-23 through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no plans to undertake a new JACS for the region in the near future, but we continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on 23 June 2020 (HC Deb col. 1193), what progress they have made towards implementing recommendations 9 and 10 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review (HC 93) to create a Migrants Commissioner and to give more powers to the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In March 2020 the then Home Secretary published Wendy Williams’s Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which set out 30 recommendations for the department.
A range of options have been considered for delivering these recommendations, which have been discussed with external stakeholders. The Home Office is taking steps to be more transparent to ensure that the department is as open as possible to all types of scrutiny, both internal and external.
We committed to working with the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) to deliver an internal review of our complaint’s procedures, and we delivered by establishing the Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints on the 17 October 2022. Furthermore, the Home Office has established the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Hub which has supported colleagues across the Department to deliver on improvements to engagement. This includes improvements in terms of accessibility and involving stakeholders in innovative ways. The aim to keep improving our engagement practices is being embedded into the Department's transformation programme.
We will keep the Home Affairs Select Committee updated on the progress of all the Wendy Williams recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the blockade of the Lachin corridor since 12 December 2022 on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh; and what humanitarian assistance they are providing in response.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences, particularly during winter. Officials have met with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, to discuss the situation. The START FUND, to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor. UK officials remain in touch with humanitarian partners to monitor the situation. The Minister for Europe issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. We also called for an early resolution to this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the historic status quo governing Jerusalem’s holy sites including Al-Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK recognises that Jerusalem's holy sites hold particular significance for all Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world. As set out to the UN Security Council on 5 January, the UK is committed to working with all parties to maintain calm, avoid provocation and uphold the status quo to ensure the safety and the security of the Al Aqsa Mosque / Al Haram Al Sharif / Temple Mount and all who worship there. I emphasised the UK's unwavering support for Jordanian custodianship during my visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque / Haram al-Sharif / Temple Mount on 12 January.