Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they have taken recently to uphold the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is working with international partners and the High Representative to bolster domestic institutions and actors to respond to threats to the Dayton Peace Agreement and protect Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH's) territorial integrity, and to encourage constructive engagement from leaders in the wider region. The Foreign Secretary's visits to BiH on 6-7 May and Serbia on 2 April underlined those efforts, as did the UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans's address to the UN Security Council on 6 May. Minister Doughty engaged international partners at a meeting of the 'Quint' on 15 May and met BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković and the High Representative of BiH on 12 April.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they have taken, if any, to ensure that possible war crimes committed against British citizens Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry in Ukraine on or about 7 January 2023 are properly investigated.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine has already recorded over 160,000 allegations of war crimes committed since Russia's barbaric invasion in February 2022. The majority of these will be investigated by Ukraine and where appropriate tried in Ukrainian courts. The UK has provided over £11.3 million in funding to support Ukraine's domestic accountability efforts to ensure allegations of war crimes can be fully and fairly investigated, by independent, effective, and robust legal mechanisms. Investigations into the deaths of Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry are a matter for the Ukrainian authorities, and we would respond to any requests for UK support through the usual judicial co-operation channels. It would not be appropriate to comment on any such requests or cooperation.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what practice they have adopted in relation to the investigation of alleged war crimes against British citizens.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This government has made a strong commitment to international justice, including through its continuing support for institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and through programme work which supports countries to deal with alleged war crimes fully, fairly and in line with international standards. The UK is committed to securing accountability for those responsible for atrocity crimes, and any allegations must be thoroughly investigated.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to sanctioning individuals involved in the issuing of the All-Serb Assembly joint declaration of June 2024 as part of their Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions regime.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is committed to supporting the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as set out in the Dayton Peace Agreement. We maintain a range of tools to tackle destabilising behaviour; our sanctions regime remains one of them. We do not speculate on future designations.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the government of Serbia regarding the All-Serb Assembly joint declaration of June 2024.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK has underlined with Serbia's leadership concerns about the "All Serb Assembly" in June and the subsequent Declaration. The UK consistently emphasises at senior levels the importance of Serbia's role in building and supporting regional stability; Minister of State Stephen Doughty did so most recently in October meetings with Foreign Minister Djuric and the Serbian Ambassador in London. We encourage Serbia to adhere to the commitments made by all Western Balkans leaders at the 2018 London Summit on good neighbourly relations.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to update the travel advice to Sri Lanka to reflect the security situation in that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The safety of British people is the main factor when determining our travel advice for all countries, including Sri Lanka. Our advice is designed to help British people make informed decisions about foreign travel and remains under constant review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks when travelling abroad. Our travel advice is based on objective assessments of the risks to British nationals. These assessments are made by drawing on expert sources of information available to the government including local knowledge from our embassies and information provided by the local authorities in each country. We will continue to keep Sri Lanka travel advice under close review.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of other G7 members or EU countries regarding bringing people-smugglers to justice.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for reform of the United Nations organisation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is a strong proponent of UN reform to make it inclusive, dynamic and reinvigorated. The UN Security Council (UNSC) must become more representative of the world today and the UK has long called for its expansion, in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. Beyond the UNSC, we support the UN Secretary-General's vision for Our Common Agenda (OCA), including its goal of a UN 2.0, better adapted to the challenges of the 21st century. We are engaging to shape the OCA initiatives in order to accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Developments Goals, and support the recipients of the UN System.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Srebrenica was a genocide, as confirmed by the international courts, and we must never forget the victims. It is important that such a significant anniversary is appropriately commemorated, and we will work with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to support their plans. The British Embassy Sarajevo has previously participated in commemoration events in BiH, and will continue to do so. Furthermore, the UK Government continues to support the Srebrenica Memorial Centre in its work to become a world-leading centre for the study and prevention of genocide.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with (1) the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and (2) other Malaysian ministers; and what topics were discussed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Prime Minister congratulated PM Anwar on his recent appointment and our High Commission to Kuala Lumpur continuously engage with the new Malaysian government. The High Commissioner has spoken to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and on 2 February 2023, Minister of State for Trade Policy the Rt Hon Greg Hands was the first UK Minister to meet with members of the new government. Rt Hon Greg Hands also met the Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz and Malaysian Minister of Economy YB Rafizi Ramli to discuss trade and economic opportunities, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.